Steven Kwasznycia

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

Steven Kwasznycia

I went to live at Southwestern Regional Centre at the age of 16. I lived there for 16 years and left when I was 32.

When I was 10 years old, I was molested by a male relative. I was sent away at the age of 16 because they thought I had molested a child when I was 11. I was going to high school at the time, but I wasn’t allowed to finish. The classroom I attended at SRC was junk and they didn’t teach me to read. I didn’t even get a diploma.

At SRC, I lived on a ward that was always locked. I couldn’t leave the ward unless I went to work, or with a 1:1 staff. I shared a bedroom with 3 other guys. I kept my own belongings in my room, but all my clothes had my name on them. There was absolutely no privacy. There was no quiet place or time alone. There were 14 of us in the dining room at every meal and the food was garbage

In the institution, I had no choice about anything. I had no control over anything. I had no freedoms. I could go to the canteen with permission from the staff, but nowhere else. I could say whatever I wanted but I had to be careful not to get in trouble. Staff were available to talk to but because they were mostly women, I couldn’t talk to them about private things.

There was not a lot of outside contact so I couldn’t keep my old friends. I didn’t have any friends in the institution either, although I still keep in touch with a couple of people who lived there. We weren’t allowed to interact with the women. They were kept on the psychotic ward and we only saw them at dances in the auditorium.

When I went to see the doctor, it was a real pain in the butt. They didn’t give me any warning before they did blood work and the doctor was checking on things that I really didn’t like. When I went to the dentist for a filling, I never had my mouth frozen.

While I was at SRC, I worked in the greenhouse at the farm. I got some days off and worked some weekends when they needed me. In my spare time, I did speed skating and played soccer. I watched tv, and I learned to cook. Sometimes I went to the chapel.

I had some say in the activities I chose to do, but I couldn’t do anything else I wanted.

There were no celebrations of any kind while I was at SCR. I always went home to see my family for the holidays. My family would come to visit me, but they didn’t like it. We were only allowed to meet at the canteen.

Absolutely nothing in the institution made me happy. Most of the time I was angry at how people were treated. There was one ward called Essex 1 South where they used shock rods on the residents. People were also put in a box or a padded room for time out. I was afraid ALL of the time. I just wanted to get the f#%& out! My sister fought to get me out and I went to live at Belle River for 6 months.

After I got out of the institution, life got a lot better. My mother and sister gave me awesome support to get settled when I left. I was really shaky from all of the stress and it took 8 months to finally get rid of it.

I met Cindy and now we’ve been married for 8 years. We have our own place and we have a cat. No one could have a pet in SRC.

I have a job at Access Community Gardens, building garden beds. It’s a good job that pays me $18 an hour. I deliver garden beds and seeds to Community Living Essex and other customers.

I’m learning to read so I can get my driver’s license.

I spend time with my family and enjoy celebrations and holidays with them. I have a lot of good friends now too. We go to movies or to restaurants for meals or coffee. I belong to a friendship group on Thursdays. Some of the people in the group also lived at SRC. I went to a men’s group a couple of years ago. We drove by SRC and noticed that they had gutted the place.

I have good supports in the community. I call my support worker to tell her what I’m doing. Sometimes I’ll sit out in my garage til 10 o’clock at night! I have a good dentist now too and I am healthy as a horse.

My life has changed a lot since I left SRC. I can do a lot more and have freedom to do what I want. I love where I’m at. I love my community and all the people around me. I love being married and I love my wife. I have to check in with my support worker, but I do what I want and I go where I want.