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HAY RIVER - Over the past several years, the lives of people with disabilities in Hay River have been a little easier.

That's thanks to the efforts of two organizations - the Hay River Committee for Persons with Disabilities and the NWT Council for Persons with Disabilities.

This handi-van is one of the new services offered to people with disabilities in Hay River. On March 4, Jenny Gauthier was using the handi-van to visit the dentist in downtown Hay River and was welcomed by Lillian Crook, left, chair of the Hay River Committee for Persons with Disabilities, and Betty Giesbrecht, right, the support worker with the NWT Council for Persons with Disabilities. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

"Now the need is being fulfilled big time, and it's just going to keep growing," said Lillian Crook, chairperson of the local committee, which began five years ago.

Back then, Crook said there were virtually no local programs or services for those with special needs in Hay River.

Crook works closely with Betty Giesbrecht, the NWT Council for Persons with Disabilities support worker in Hay River.

Giesbrecht said there has been a dramatic improvement in services for people with disabilities in Hay River.

"They had no advocacy at all," she said of the situation just a few years ago.

Lillian Lau-a, whose 20-year-old son uses a wheelchair, agreed things have improved.

"They've done a lot of work in the last few years," said Lau-a.

"Probably there's more to go, but this is a start."

She said some of the new programs, such as day camps, crafts programs and visits to the library or the movies, have helped get people with a disability out into the community.

Lau-a said she has also accessed funding to buy an exercise machine for her son and to renovate her home's bathroom to make it more accessible.

Between the two organizations, many new programs and services have been introduced in the past few years. The local committee offers such services as respite care and a handi-van.

The handi-van was purchased by the Town of Hay River with federal funding and it was sold to the committee in August for $1.

Giesbrecht, who volunteers to co-ordinate the handi-van service, said it now has 27 regular users and many other occasional users.

Jenny Gauthier, who uses the van, said it makes it a lot easier to get around town in her wheelchair, especially in the winter.

"It's very handy," Gauthier quipped.

Giesbrecht also does such things as work one-on-one with clients, offers a separate respite care service, and runs an employability program, which helps people find work.

The two organizations have also jointly offered programs such as summer camps and a day program at Aurora College.

Between the two of them, the organizations offer help to 62 clients, including some on the Hay River Reserve and in Enterprise and Fort Smith.

Crook said the people in need of help have a range of disabilities, such as mobility challenges, blindness, deafness and mental issues.

"There are probably a lot of other people in the community who can use assistance," she said, adding some may not know help is available or may not want it.

Crook said the Hay River committee is also going to look at opening an assisted living house for people with intellectual disabilities.

That would be separate from another assisted living facility nearing completion in the community.

Crook said a local facility would be for people who do not need 24-hour supervision and whose living skills may be too high to qualify for the territorial facility.

The Hay River Committee for Persons with Disabilities and the NWT Council for Persons with Disabilities work so closely together - even sharing the same office - that many people have a hard time telling them apart.

"Between the two organizations, it's becoming very confusing," Crook said.

"It's for the same cause. It's to help and advocate for people with disabilities," said Giesbrecht, who added that any work she does for the local committee is as a volunteer only.

Crook said the goal is for the local committee to eventually stand independent of the NWT council and take over all programs and services in Hay River. She said that would eliminate confusion and overlap.

The local committee began in 2004 as the Hay River Association for Community Living, which advocated for people with intellectual disabilities.

The name was changed in 2007, Crook said. "We assist all people with disabilities, not just intellectual disabilities."

Giesbrecht has been working in Hay River for the NWT Council for Persons with Disabilities since 2005.