Lenny Quade

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

Lenny Quade

As a child I lived in many different foster homes. I don’t remember how old I was when I went to live at Rideau Regional, but I lived on the adult ward E4D. I had my own bedroom and could come and go as I liked.

I had some jobs at RRC. My favourite job was working on the children’s ward, changing the kids and feeding them. The kids were all in cribs that were very close together. They would stay in their cribs all the time, even to eat. I also worked on the cleaning crew, and in the laundry and kitchen.

I got paid for my work and would go downtown by myself to the drug store and have coffee with people I knew from around town. Sometimes I would go to a hockey game. In my spare time I would hang out on the back porch at RRC, talking to people. I would go get coffee at the canteen for the switchboard women. They would buy my coffee too and we would sit and visit. In the evenings I would go for walks. I had a friend, Mike, who was an OPP. I would go out to check on the parking lot with him, like commissionaires, to make sure everything was okay. Mike would also take me out with him to direct traffic in town.

I moved to Prince Edward Heights in my late teens and lived in Area 1. I worked a lot there too. I was on the task force cutting grass in the summer and shoveling snow in the winter. It was a big job doing all the driveways, sidewalks and parking lots. In the summer we would get contracts to go picking apples and tomatoes in Waupoos and South Bay. Staff trusted me and left me to work alone a lot, coming around once in a while to check on me.

In my spare time at PEH I would walk downtown or take a taxi and go for coffee. I was paid on Fridays and would occasionally go downtown to the Royal Hotel for a beer. I would also go to watch movies at the Assembly Hall at PEH. Every Saturday I would go out with a group of people to feed the ducks.

I don’t remember ever going to school but I did attend Adult Education classes at PEH. They paid me to go there.

I always had good experiences when I lived at Rideau Regional and Prince Edward Heights. I was never bullied or hurt by anyone.

When I left PEH I moved into Picton to a group home called Mainstay. I got a job working at the Picton arena. I filled the Zamboni with water, swept and mopped the bleachers, and cleaned up the garbage. I was paid well there.

Now I live in Belleville at a group home with Pathways to Independence. I miss living at PEH but I like living here much better. I have my own room with my own TV and my short wave radio where I listen to the police and fire departments reports. I like to go out to Music in the Park, and I go camping for 3 weeks in the summer at Maloney’s retreat in Tweed. Sometimes I’ll have a glass of wine with dinner but at camp I enjoy having a cooler every day. I work on Thursdays, shredding paper at the Pathways office. They pay me for this.

Growing up, I never had a family. Now my family is a woman who used to work with me and is now retired. I am happy when I go to her house. I also have some good friends that I keep in touch with on the phone. Sometimes I go to their house for supper. I really like where I live now.