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“It was appreciated, considering there was only one hold out and we all know who it was,” Irving said with sarcasm.
“Ivy,” I said in a whisper. “Irving needs some food. He’s running on low.”
“Oh! Of course. Everyone is waiting to talk to you about your new event. You do that and I’ll get you some dinner.”
“Thanks, Ivy,” Irving said, smiling. “Star, forward,” he said until we stopped at booth six, where Heather, Becca, Indigo, and Mrs. Violet sat.
“Hey, girls,” I said, leaning in to give Mrs. Violet a squeeze. “I’m surprised to see you all here so late.”
“Star, rest,” Irving said, and Star jumped up on the bed next to his chair to rest. I scooted into the booth next to Mrs. Violet.
“We were just finishing some work for the cookie walk,” Heather explained. “I know it’s over a month away, but it takes a lot of planning. Mel and Addie wanted to be here, but they both have little ones who are under the weather.”
“Oh no,” Irving said with a frown. “Tis the season, but it’s always hard when the little ones don’t feel well. Shep must be with Lucy?”
“Yep,” Becca said, as she stabbed at her pie. “He wanted Ivy to be here to chat with us about this new event you’re doing. We’re all happy to help.”
“That’s great,” I said, as Ivy set a to-go cup of tea in front of me and poured a cup of coffee for Irving. “We’re going to need a lot of help to pull this off.”
“Tell us your goal,” Ivy said, pulling a chair over to sit next to Irving.”
I explained to them what the event was and why I wanted to do it so quickly.
“You plan to get the council there so they’ll get moving on the decisions that need to be made to open New Beginnings?” Ivy asked to clarify.
“Exactly,” Irving said. “I want them to experience the difficulty of being housing insecure and also the challenges of being disabled without a home. Until they experience it first hand, they’ll never quite get it.”
“I agree,” Becca said. “I’ve been there and it’s scary.”
Mrs. Violet squeezed Becca’s shoulder. “I was never more upset than when I found out where Becca had been living when she first came to Bells Pass. It was condemned, but she had no place else to go, or so she thought. You let me work my magic to make sure all the council members are there. They may not stay overnight, but if they stay for a bit and see the need for themselves, it will still leave the impression you want.”
“Agreed,” I said with a thankful smile. “I appreciate that, Mrs. Violet. They’ll be the toughest sell. It won’t be hard to get community members like all of you to attend. The reality is, New Beginnings would be open already if the community had the helm. I know everyone is as frustrated as Irving and I are about the constant stonewalling.”
“Which I don’t understand,” Ivy said. “The Bells Pass Bungalows are already full, so why aren’t they filling New Beginnings? Does no one want to rent them?”
“Just the opposite,” Irving said with a frustrated shake of his head. “I have enough applications to fill the place twice over, but what I don’t have are finished rooms. The council has to approve all changes, and they’re once again hung up on the expense of making the rooms accessible. Well, three of them are, but a vote of three nay and three yay does not get us anywhere.”
“True,” Heather agreed, biting her lip. “New Beginnings is already accessible, though, right?”
“The entrances and central areas are,” I said with a nod. “When the rooms were converted to studios and apartments, they weren’t all made accessible, and by accessible, I mean an accessible bath, kitchen, and living space. Irving can roll into my apartment, but he can’t do much from there. Our applications tell us that we should have at least a dozen fully accessible apartments like Irving’s.”
“That means accessible bathrooms, lever door handles, and hardwood floors. We aren’t talking about lowering the kitchen cabinets or anything other than the microwaves being under the cabinets rather than above the stove, as well as a fridge with the freezer on the bottom. Simple changes, but they will allow those who use wheelchairs or have limited hand mobility a place to live and thrive.”
“It doesn’t seem like that much to ask. I feel like this doesn’t have anything to do with accessibility and everything to do with power?” Becca asked. As someone who needed accessible features just like Irving, I could understand why she saw it that way.
“Insightful,” I said in agreement. “Irving and I believe that’s the case as well.”
“The money is already available through Seeds of Hope, which is Cam’s foundation,” Heather said. “I don’t see why they’re debating this so much when the funds are there.”
“The council still has to approve the changes,” I explained. “They keep dragging their feet wanting this study done and that expert to look at it blah, blah, blah. If we could just get them to sign off to approve the recommendations, the rooms can be completed quickly and we can start moving people in.”
“We could start moving people into the completed rooms now,” Irving explained. “However, the council won’t let us do that either. They say there’s still construction to be done in the building so it’s a safety hazard. All the construction would be on the first floor while the second floor sits empty.”
“So, it’s an endless cycle you can never break,” Mrs. Violet said and we all nodded. “Then we break it,” she said with determination. “Cold weather is coming and what good does an empty building do? Let’s rile these people up and show them just because they’re sitting in a warm house on the hill doesn’t mean everyone is. Becca and Indigo, can the bakery supply pastries for the morning breakfast?”
“Absolutely,” they said in unison. “We’ll also do cookies for snacks and eggnog during the night event,” Becca assured her.
Mrs. Violet was already writing things down in her notebook while Irving and I looked on with a smile.
