Keith Stewart

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

Keith Stewart

I moved to Rideau Regional when I was 8 years old. I lived there for 5 years and then was transferred to Huronia Regional Centre in Orillia. I really can’t remember anything about my time at Rideau except my sister Grace also moved there when she was 7.

I lived on a ward in Orillia. The beds were so close together that there was no room to walk between them. I thought it was like sleeping like dogs. It was my job to make the beds. I had to make the beds in 3 rooms, with 10 beds per room. It was very difficult because of the lack of space between them. I had to change and make a lot of wet beds.

I didn’t like the staff in Orillia because they locked people behind doors. I remember one staff who would stand in the hallway and yell at everyone in their bedrooms to get up instead of going into each room to wake people up. Everyone would go for breakfast and then they were locked up again. They couldn’t go out unless they had jobs to go to.

I had a job working on the truck team at the car wash. I would ride in the back of a truck to and from work, in the morning, at lunch and in the evening. I really liked this job because it was nice to get off the ward. People treated me nicely there because they didn’t push me. I was never paid for any of my work. They just didn’t do that in those days.

When people stayed on the ward, they usually just watched TV. The ward had a large tv room where everyone would spend their time. Once a week everyone had a bath or shower and the linen changed on their beds. If the beds were wet they would be changed, otherwise once per week.

I didn’t have any friends except for my friend David. He moved to Kingston when I did, and we stayed friends until he passed away. I only remember one staff ever being nice to me. I used to help him put the clothes away in the lockers. The lockers were all in one room and people were not allowed to have access to their lockers without permission and a staff to unlock it. There were only clothes in it anyways. We didn’t have any other possessions.

At Christmas, and all the other holidays, I never had any home visits and no family connection. I used to see Grace at times. Grace used to tell me that women seemed to do better in the institute than men. Grace wanted to see me so she snuck over to my ward. She was caught and told that if she did it again she would be placed in the side room. The side room was a small room with no furniture in it. If people were bad they would be put in until they learned to behave themselves, sometimes for an entire week. Food would be delivered to the side room on a tray. I’m not sure what would happen if people needed to use the washroom. I was never put in the side room. At times, I was scared in the institution.

At Huronia I never got anything for Christmas, birthdays or any other holiday. I remember being allowed to go to the fair, otherwise I was not allowed to go outside. We never had any dances or were allowed any interaction with women.

At Huronia, the food was very bad. The food was cooked at another location and it really wasn’t fit to eat. Half the people wouldn’t eat it. There were 3 daily meals but no snacks or access to anything other than water. Patients would look into the staff room and see that the staff had better food than we did.

In the institution I had to go to bed at 10 and was up at 6 every day without choice. I could sleep in on the weekend but then I would have to go without breakfast. I had no choice in what I wore because my clothes were put out for me by the staff every day. I didn’t buy my own clothes as they were provided. Everyone went to the barber at the same time and we were allowed to ask for a specific style. We really enjoyed being able to have a choice with our own hair style.

I never saw a dentist at Huronia. After moving to (*), I saw a dentist and had all of my teeth removed because they were all decayed. I never needed to see a doctor because I was never sick. Now I go to see the doctor for check ups and because I take medication for some health issues.

I don’t remember how old I was but I left Orillia on a bus and came to (*). The bus was full and we had to stop many times because many people were getting carsick. They didn’t send any staff with us. We were only sent with the clothes on our backs. In Orillia they simply wrote our names on the back of our neck. By the time we arrived it had been rubbed or sweated off. I was the only one who knew everyone’s names and had to tell the (*) staff who everyone was.

While I lived at (*) I had a job in the kitchen setting tables, making coffee, clearing tables, doing dishes and mopping floors. There were women that helped. I did this every day without a day off, and without pay or spending money.

At (*) I was allowed to go out into the community, to church and shopping, or for a coffee. I remember times when people out in public would call me retarded. I really didn’t like that word.

I stayed at (*) until I was 17. While I was there I had a psychiatrist named Dr. K. The doctor’s wife volunteered there and would take me and another patient home to their house. We would help them with yard work, and snow removal. We did this for no pay. Mrs. K took me in to live with them for 8 years until I went to live in a group home.

I lived with the K’s from the age of 22 until I was 30. I’ve stayed friends with the K family and I still clean house and cut grass for them. I even work in the extreme heat because I like it.

When I lived with the K’s, I developed a love of nice clothes. They gave me a lot of clothes. I still dress up every day in a dress shirt, jacket and dress pants.

I started drinking while I was living with the K’s and it got worse after I moved to the group home. I started going to AA and I have been sober for 18 years. I attend meetings every Friday but now sometimes I feel like I’m there to support my sponsor.

When I left (*), I moved to a home with Community Living Kingston and District and lived with my friend David. I was much happier when I moved to the community. I would go to stores, and shows. I had money to do what I wanted.

While I lived at the home with David, I met my wife Joanne. We would see each other on Sundays. I lived with my friend David, who had been talking to Joanne, and he told me that she wanted me to call her. We dated and later told CLKD that we wanted to live together. At first we were denied but asked again and we moved to an apartment on Queen Mary Rd. We were the first couple with CLKD to live together.

Joanne and I got married. We had a wedding, which was attended by the K’s and Jo’s big family. We renewed our vows after 29 years. We have been married now for 34 years and lived common law for 2 years before that. My friend Bill, who lived with me after David passed away, was my best man. Unfortunately, I don’t know where Bill is anymore.

Joanne and I have a full and active life together. We have been to Scotland and England to visit Joannes’ sister Suzanne. For our anniversary last year we went on a Mediterranean cruise with Suzanne and her son. We go to church, which is the same church that I started walking to when I lived at (*) 30 years ago! Volunteers from the church pick us up on Sunday. We are very involved with the church and go to every special event they offer. We like to give back and donate to the shoebox program every Christmas, choosing the amount of the donation ourselves.

We used to belong to the Hard of Hearing club but the local chapter closed. We still sometimes meet with the members. We used to attend People’s First meetings but we decided not to attend. Everyone was much younger and one individual was too loud and had disrupted the meeting. We would get upset by this because we had no opportunity to talk and share with the group.

These days, I look after Joanne. She is sick a lot, and I am never sick. I am very particular about things so I like to do all of the housework, laundry and cooking. I really like to decorate for all occasions and I have a lot of decorations. I even obsess a little about their placement around the apartment. I like to buy fresh flowers for Jo and take her out for lunch. I have a support worker from CLKD who comes every week to help me to go get groceries but I can get them by taxi if support is not available.

Today Joanne and I are very happy. I am extremely routine oriented. For example I will spend the same amount of money on groceries every week whether we need them or not. I don’t mind change in routine so long as the content is the same every week. I don’t ever remember having a negative emotion and I am a very happy person. I am always active and most of the time I pace around the house!

I never learned to read and write because I was never given the opportunity to go to school, so I developed great coping skills. I have an excellent memory. I have memorized all of my contacts addresses and phone numbers, and all of my bus routes. I can scroll through my list of phone numbers and know who each one belongs to!

If I could tell people about institutions I would say, “I didn’t feel good living in the institution. It was a terrible place to be in. It was like living in prison. If the government ever opened another one I’d like to see a government person live in one of those places and then they would change their mind.”