Within Our Reach

Neptune Theatre's Sharisse Lebrun and advocate, activist, and reachAbility board member Milena Khazanavicius join us in this week's episode to talk about accessible theatre at Neptune and beyond, the intricacies of audio description, and why sometimes the most dignified words to use aren't necessarily the most polite ones. (Listener discretion is advised: this episode features explicit language, but it's all in the service of dignity and accessibility, we promise!)

In this week's episode, Halifax Regional Councillor Jean St-Amand (District 16 Bedford-Wentworth) joins us to talk about the city's Accessibility Advisory Committee and the accessibility challenges and opportunities facing Halifax today.

Hosts Blake Hunsley and Shelley Alward MacLeod discuss accessibility challenges in navigation with guest Avery Cote. Avery is the developer of Trek.iQ, an app designed to use accessibility data to help people with disabilities navigate cities like Halifax by providing real-time updates on accessibility metrics, such as crowd density and street closures. The app also includes a "street to seat" navigation tool for live events. Avery and our hosts discuss the importance of involving people with disabilities in the development process and partnering with businesses to improve accessibility.

In our first season finale, Tova Sherman joins us once more to talk about what it takes to start a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), and to share some of the lessons she's learned after 25 years at the head of reachAbility, a non-profit dedicated to advancing inclusion in the Halifax community. 

Content warning: This week's episode discusses the loss of parents after prolonged illness. 
Evan Dobbie is back as our guest this week to discuss his experiences as a caregiver for ailing parents for over two decades, and the impact that experience and the ensuing loss of both parents had on his life and health. It's a weighty topic but an important one, and Evan brings both sensitivity and good advice for those embarking on their own caregiving journey. 

This week our hosts are joined by Amanda Van Tassel, owner of No Hassle Dog Training (nohassledogtraining.ca), who discusses her journey into the world of entrepreneurship. As a business owner with ADHD, Amanda talks about the unique challenges she faced as well as the ways in which her neurodivergence can be an asset to small business owners like herself. 

This week Shelley and Blake are joined by local activist and advocate Milena Khazanavicius to learn about how we can all be better allies to members of the blind and partially sighted community. Milena shares her experiences navigating the world without sight for the past thirty years, and talks about actions large and small that we can all take to make our communities safer and more accessible spaces for people with low or no vision. 

reachAbility CEO Tova Sherman joins our hosts this week to talk about the agency's 25th anniversary, our history, and how the needs of our clients and our community have changed over the past quarter century. 

As part of reachAbility's upcoming 25th anniversary celebrations (join us at our open house May 30 from 1-3pm!) former client and current staff member Evan Dobbie joins hosts Shelley Alward MacLeod and Blake Hunsley to talk about his client journey through reachAbility. Evan shares his first impressions and the meaningful encounters that made his progress through reachAbility so successful, and Shelley shares her perspective as an HR and legal expert advising clients like Evan on what they can expect in the workplace.

You can read Evan's contribution to our 2024 AGM report here: https://reachability.org/agm-2024-client-journey-report/

Hosts Blake Hunsley and Shelley Alward-MacLeod discuss the role of Educational Program Assistants (EPAs) in the Nova Scotia public school system. This week's guest is Chelsea Coffin, who speaks to her experiences as a parent of a child who requires EPA support. They explore the impact of EPAs on students unique needs, the need for proper training and support, as well as systemic problems like burnout and inconsistency in support.