Jon Workman

541 Days Road, Kingston, ON K7M3R8, CA

The Reclamation Project: The Value of Living Life at the Helm

Stories of life in an institution and the voices that closed them

Jon Workman

I lived with my parents until I was 18 years old. We didn’t get along so they sent me to live at the Edgar Adult Occupational Center. I lived here for 10 years. I didn’t like it, it was like being in a jail. There were wards and houses but it was more like a hospital, with crazy people and crazy staff.

I shared a room in a house with 2 other men. We got along okay. Staff would cook for us in the house but most of the time the food wasn’t that great. The curfew at my house was 8 pm so in the evenings I would watch TV or just lay and stare at the 4 walls. On the weekends I would go to the dances or hang out at the canteen. I was allowed to walk around on the grounds at Edgar. If I ever went off the grounds without permission I would be thrown into the hole, the side room, for 4 days. If I wanted to go off the grounds I would have to go with a staff. I was usually too scared to go away with staff because I was afraid of being beaten.

Monday to Friday I had a job in the carwash. It was my job to shampoo and wax the cars. I didn’t get much pay and would spend my money on coffee at the canteen. I didn’t like working at the carwash. The staff were mean. They would come in drunk and beat people. I was shoved and kicked in the ribs. All of my friends at the carwash had the same thing happen. One friend had to have his kidney taken out because he was kicked in the ribs so much. I couldn’t tell my boss because he was never there, and he hit people too. I tried to tell the owner but he didn’t believe me.

I had some friends at Edgar. We would hang out at the canteen together. One day a staff told me to go back to my house. I asked him why I had to go back and then he grabbed me and forced me back. He wouldn’t let go so I lambasted him one. I didn’t like being grabbed and dragged. Another time a staff thought I started a fight. When I tried to explain that I hadn’t, the staff said I was swearing, but I wasn’t. The staff kicked me many times in the ribs and put me in the side room. I told him his day would come. Lots of people got put in the side room for speaking out.

I did have to go to the hospital once. I think it was my gall bladder that put me there. I thought the nurses there were really nice.

When I lived at Edgar I would try to visit my family but it was hard to get a pass. My family would not come to visit me.

I was glad when I left Edgar. I worked on farms, where I drove the tractor, the forklift, the haywagon and milked the cows. I also worked on a chicken farm in Lindsay where I was also given a bed, food, and I was paid well. The owner was very nice.

I never kept in touch with my friends from Edgar. Now most of them have died.

After Lindsay I moved to Kingston to be closer to my family. I live in my own apartment and am supported by Community Living Kingston and District.

I have a big family, who I am very close to now. I have 13 siblings. My parents have both passed away. I go home for holidays and long weekends by train to Belleville where I stay with my brother Joe. I see the rest of his family here as well. I like to help Joe. He is in a wheelchair so I help him buy his groceries and to fix up his apartment. I helped him put in a new floor.

For the past 20 years, I have worked with the Co-Op through Peoples Employment Opportunities. I pull staples for the ministry and I am the treasurer here as well. At Christmas, I work taking donations for the Salvation Army Christmas Kettles in Kingston.

After I retire I want to go traveling.

I have an active social life with lots of girlfriends and friends. We go for a beer at the Irish pub. On weekends I like to go downtown to listen to live music. I often go to Gananoque by myself. I go to watch plays at the playhouse, and see concerts like Charlie Pride, Roseanne Cash and Johnny Reid. I recently saw the Monster Trucks and got a KPass so I can sightsee around Kingston. After work I go to lift weights at Artillery Park.

There were a lot of big changes after I left the institution. I got a job, live in my own place, and I can go out and in any time I want. I can even come home at 1 a.m. if I want to!

I received a good settlement from the class action law suit from when I lived at Edgar. I am really good at managing my money with help from my support worker.

If I could give anyone a message about institutions, it would be, “Don’t ever go there! There are bad people who beat up on people. Stay out of them because those kind of places don’t help you!”.