Richmond Found Family at CONNECT

“CONNECT actually does what the name suggests,” says 38-year-old Richmond, who lives at CONNECT Hamilton. “It connects you to yourself and to this family of people living here and the people working here. They are like my brothers and sisters, and they really care about me. We are a team. A family.”

Richmond describes his time living at CONNECT Hamilton as life-changing. He says he didn’t really make much progress physically or mentally until he moved in.

Living at CONNECT approximately 6 months, he is now walking, working out in the gym, building lots of friendships and focused on getting stronger each day.

“Before I came here, I couldn’t even walk. So the people that are here, who work here and who live here, give you the energy to push yourself, to make you feel like you are with your family. We all eat together, sit together, talk together. We don’t go and leave each other behind.”

Born in Ghana, Richmond came to Canada in 2019 and settled in Brampton.

He was an active football (soccer) player and working as a personal support worker for a retirement home and a long-term care home at the time of his accident.

While he doesn’t remember the incident, he now knows he was walking across the street when a vehicle struck him. He was taken to the hospital and air lifted to Toronto, where he stayed for four months. He suffered significant trauma to his head and right leg and has since had several surgeries.

None of his family members, including his children, live in Canada, so his recovery and rehab journey has been difficult and often lonely.

After a lengthy hospital stay and several moves between rehab facilities and care centres, Richmond moved to CONNECT.

He described CONNECT as significantly different from the other places he stayed.

“You wake up in the morning and everybody greets you, ‘good morning, good morning.’ And you feel happy. You feel like you are home. CONNECT has really given me the joy, the beautiful things I was looking for, the happiness, and CONNECT makes me feel like I have somebody to love, someone I can rely on.”

He says he reflects on his accident and believes there is a reason for everything.

“Everything that happens to me, I need to thank God. There is a reason. There is a purpose.”