The Voice - ReYu with Bean Gill

VAD talks with Bean from ReYu about their services and upcoming events.  Listen and learn about this great resource in the community.

Transcript

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

Welcome to the voice of Albertans with Disabilities podcast from May 2024. I'm Teresa Makarewich, your host and dads program and services manager. Thanks for joining us today. Voice of Albertans with disabilities gratefully acknowledges that what we call Alberta is a traditional and ancestral territories and gathering place for the diverse indigenous peoples whose histories, languages and cultures continue to influence our vibrant community. We make this acknowledgment as an act of reconciliation and gratitude to the many First Nations Metis settlements and the six regions of the Metis nation of Alberta and Inuit who have lived in and cared for these lands for generations HY HY. 

VAD has been talking with local agencies to learn about the resources that are available to the disability community and in today's podcast  I'll be talking to Bean Gill from ReYu at ReYu Neural Recovery is promoted through an intense activity based therapy program to increase function for individuals with spinal cord injuries and neurological conditions. Please join VAD in welcoming Bean on the podcast. Together we hold the power.

Morning Bean. 

Bean Gill, ReYu

Hi, Teresa. How are you?

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

Good. Can you take a moment to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you?

Bean Gill, ReYu

Yeah, of course. So like you said, my name is Bean Gill. I have had a spinal cord injury for almost 12 years and coming up on my 12th grade birthday in a couple of months. And. Yeah, I guess that was like the big pivotal  Moment that really changed my life and I didn't Know what my future would look like, prior to my injury, I was an X-ray tech and so I was working, living my independent life. But then when I found out about what activity based therapies were. And I went to California, to a center to try it. I fell in love with the program, and that's when I realized why I was paralyzed and what my purpose is after the paralysis. And it was to open a center here in Edmonton where we didn't have anything before. And so I found a really good trainer, Nancy, and she's been wanting to do this for a long time. And so her and I together  Opened ReYu in 2017. And yeah, it's been. A roller coaster.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

Awesome. Thank you. Can you tell us who ReYu is as an organization and how long you've been in business?

Bean Gill, ReYu

Sure. Yeah. Like we just have our 7th birthday in April and we are a nonprofit organization. We are a fee for service nonprofit. So that does mean people have to pay for our services for now. Eventually, our plan is to have, you know, enough funding to be able to subsidize our clients fees. Or maybe even  Offer it for free, Should we have enough funds. The ReYu is a place for people with any kind of neurologic condition to really reconnect their brain to their body, retrain their nervous system, and most importantly, redefine what's possible for people with disabilities. We really want to move past that point of independence, and we want to see like, What can you get back? How can we actually  Increase your quality of life?  Can we may help you get healthier? Stronger?  And even just more social?. So it's been a really, really wild roller coaster, especially with with a worldwide pandemic in our first five years of operating, it's been lots of hurdles, quite a bit of pushback as well. But we've just trucked along and have believed in our system and our program. And to have done our best to help as many people as we can.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

Wonderful. Just you mentioned there's a fee for services. Are There packages that people buy as-  How does that work?

Bean Gill, ReYu

Yeah. So we don't offer packages. It is pretty much a flat rate. So our initial assessment is 2 hours and that's $220. And then we charge $80.00 an hour after that. As of July 1st, 2024, we will be increasing our fees to $90.00 an hour. It's not something that we want to do. It is something that we have to do based on. The economy of our Area and unfortunately, bills keep going up, right? So yeah, we just.

Speaker

Yeah.

Bean Gill, ReYu

Yeah, we don't. Want to but we have to increase our fees. Yeah to 90.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

OK. Can you give us some history about your organization?

Bean Gill, ReYu

Yes. Well, it was started by Nancy and I and and like I said, you know, Nancy was coming to my house to train me because from the place in California, I got a home Graham. And so she would come to my house about six days a week, 3 to 4 hours a day. We'd train and then, you know, on my journey, anybody else that I would meet with a disability, I would be like, you need to work out with Nancy. She's amazing. And so she was going around to people's houses to train them while still going to school. And that's when we really started to see the need here in Edmonton. Also, when I was in California, like I met a handful of people who moved down there to access the therapy, so I knew there was something here. And by bringing this back here, yeah, I mean, It's changed both of our lives – Lives,  we are women owned women ran. And you know. A fully full organization full of women, we are totally open to having men here. It just kind of hasn't worked out that way. But yeah, we we offer one-on-one therapies. So you're with your trainer for that full hour. You're out of your wheelchair, you're going to be doing things that you can't do at home. Because if you can do it at home, you should be doing it at home. And so we're going to have you standing, walking on your tummy like doing hands and knees, crawling all sorts of different things that you probably didn't think  That you could do. And I guess like. Yeah. One of the things that sets re you apart from a lot of other places is how we is our attitude towards people with disabilities. We don't treat people with disabilities like they have disabilities. We treat them like people, period. And I think that, you know, well, quite a few of my clients have said to me like, thank you for treating me like a human.

And that actually makes me feel sad because it's like, well, how are you being treated outside of here? And I know how you're being treated outside of there, and it's not with dignity. It's not with respect and it's oftentimes following the medical model of disability that you can't do anything and you need help with everything and you're a burden. And the problem is you. So we really want to change that. And we so when anytime somebody walks or rolls into our facility, we choose to see their potential and we refuse to talk about limitations. And I think that's what really sets us apart is I don't care what you can't do. We want to know what can you do? What do you want to do and how can we help you get there because that's what's going to motivate you to actually. To the next.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

That's awesome. What are some projects that ReYu has done that you are most proud of?

Bean Gill, ReYu

Ohh goodness. I mean so many things. I guess it would just be, you know, being able to impact the lives of people living with disabilities here in Alberta. You know, we have families from BC. We have people who have come from Switzerland, from the state. So from all over the place. And I think the biggest thing is like the one thing that I'm most proud of. Is how much confidence we are able to instill in our clients. Like without confidence, you're not going to go apply for school. You're not going to apply for a job. You're not going to, you know, ask that girl out or ask that guy out. You're not going to do any of those things. But if we can tell you that you have worth and you have value and you deserve to be on this planet, disability or not, if we can get you. To fall in love with yourself then? Like. It's just the. You know there's no limit to what somebody is capable of doing, and I've seen this first hand with some of my clients who are very insecure and that was me too when I was first paralyzed. Very insecure not knowing And Where you belong, or you know that. I don't know, just living with a disability is really hard, especially if it's a visible disability, not taking away from anybody with an invisible disability. But you know, my experience is that of a visible disability. And so if we can make people confident in themselves, then, like I said, they're more likely to go actually become members of. Society and that's what I love the most. I mean, we've also done some really cool stuff. We've had a lot of great events. Our wheelchair wash is a big hit, right? Because it's like a car wash. But for your wheelchair. And yeah, we've partnered with EU of A. We've done a couple of research studies. We're still a part of some. Yeah, I mean, we've done a lot of little things over the last seven years that I'm really, really proud of the most proud. I am the most proud of the fact that we are able to instill confidence in people.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

OK. Your wheelchair wash, when's your next one?

Bean Gill, ReYu

I don't know. We were going to have one this year, but we ran out of  Weekends, we might have one in August. I'm not 100% sure yet. Yeah, we don't know if we will have one this year, but we'll try.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

That's good. Can you share your thoughts on how Reyu contributes to the disability community to better people's lives?

Bean Gill, ReYu

Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, like I already said, confidence is a big, big piece of that. Secondly, is like knowing and understanding your body, right? As humans, I think we just we think of our head and our body as two separate  entities we think of our consciousness and our body to be two very different things, but they're not. They are really, really very much intertwined with each other. And our body is constantly communicating with us constantly. We having critical thinking and also being able to, you know, just The word I'm looking for the kind of thinking that adults have. We're able to tell ourselves no  My body's not telling me this. I'm smart. I know what's best. I'm not going to listen to my body. Me, right. Whereas your body might be screaming at you, trying to tell you something and we're just like, Nope, I'm not listening to it because my consciousness knows what's best. And so if we can get people to understand how to listen to what their body is saying, how to talk to their body, that's how you're going to get that big buy in. That's how you're going to actually connect your brain to your body. If you have a spinal cord injury or brain injury, or  And that stroke whatever condition you're living with cerebral palsy. Doesn't matter. You have to learn how to connect to your body. And so I think that's a big, big piece. Is teaching people how their bodies work and really getting them to understand how their nervous system works and to communicate with it. And then when we start to see that when that aha lightbulb moment happens. Man, watch that recovery come so quick after that, because now you believe in yourself. Now you believe this isn't just, you know, fluffy hippie dippy stuff. This is real science. And like you actually have so much agency over your body, whether you think you do or not. And I think that has the biggest Effect in people's quality of life.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

That is wonderful. Good answer. How does someone get a hold of you?

Bean Gill, ReYu

Oh, there are so many different ways. Easiest would be through our website, which is www.reyu.ca. We have a contact US form there. You can also reach out to us on socials, on Instagram and TikTok. We are at ReYu PRC and on Facebook. It is our full name. ReYu Paralysis recovery center. You can also e-mail us at info@ReYu.ca. You can call us at 587-938-7398. You could probably even just stand outside and yell, and we would hear you-Somebody would. We're really easy to get ahold of. We check all of our messages. We respond to all of our DM's. So yeah, if you're interested, please do reach out. If you want to come by and just hang out and take a look at our facility and have a tour more than welcome to we would love to have you. We're very open about what we do and how we do it, because we just want to help as many people as we can.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

Are you booking in advance by a long time?

Bean Gill, ReYu

Yes, but I wouldn't say by a very long time. I think like for an assessment. So the assessment spots are kind of harder to find because we need 2 hours. So yeah, maybe about 2-3 weeks out for an assessment spot for a regular like one hour session. I think like we are pretty full, we do have a wait list, but we do have a high cancellation. Right. So we are able to get people in pretty quick, yeah. So yes and no.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

Thank you. What is an interesting fact about ReYu that everyone should know?

Bean Gill, ReYu

Oh, what an interesting fact that we are one of only five centers across Canada that offer activity based therapies and we are one of two that work with children and adults at the same time.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

Wonderful. You cover a great a great demographic there. Yeah. Is there anything else you want to say today that I haven't asked you?

Bean Gill, ReYu

You. Yeah, I'd love to plug a couple of our events if possible.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

Absolutely.

Bean Gill, ReYu

On June 8th, we are having our 8th annual 5 kilometer Walk run and roll and this will be at Sir Wilfred Laurier Park. You can go to ourwebsite@ReYu.ca/events to find the link to register. It's $30 to register and that with that you get a free BBQ lunch as well as this year. They're offering Green ReYu cooling towels as part of your registration Fee.

Bean Gill, ReYu

We do encourage people to raise money and then the top three individuals or teams who raise the most money  Prize. It's a family friendly event. It's we try to have fun at everything in everything that we do. We encourage able bodied people to do the five kilometers in a wheelchair so that they can get a glimpse into what life in a wheelchair is really like. We also encourage people who are wheelchair users to use hand cycles so we often partner with the Paralympic Board. Association. We borrow some of their hand cycles so that people can use hand cycles to do their 5K. We and then we also are having bringing back our rise of the Phoenix Gala. So on November 2nd, 2024, save the day to put it in your calendar, you too Teresa, and we're bringing back our gala. So we haven't done our gala since 2019 because of COVID. And so we're coming back with a bang. We're going to be having  A fully inclusive Fashion show as part of our entertainment, Bally wheels will be performing. That's a dance group that I am a part of. We have a really great MC, Randall McDonald. He is the fabulist, a fashionista of Edmonton. He's so awesome. So he's going to be emceeing it. And we're going to have a great silent auction and we really hope to sell out all of our seats. We're going to have great food. It's at the Meridian banquet hall. The food is absolutely incredible, and it's just going to be a fun night of celebration of success. Our clients will share their stories. Our staff will share their stories. And really, just a great way for us to raise some money for our programs and for to purchase equipment as well as you know share with the philanthropists of our city that you know no recovery is real and that that there's so much hope out there. You want to give people all the hope that they can get, because that's what life, you know, what is life without hope? So those are our two events, big events that are coming up. We would love for you to be there again. Reu.ca/events is where you'll find all this information and we hope to see you there.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

Perfect. If you swing me some information about the gala, I'll make sure it goes in the newsletter.

Bean Gill, ReYu

Perfect. Yes, I definitely.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

Awesome. OK. Well, thank you for your time and energy today being your support of the community is a value to all anything else you want to say.

Bean Gill, ReYu

I am so appreciative of everything VAD does and has done with me, and for me and for real and for the Community as a whole. So thank you so much for continuing to do all your hard work. I know it's not easy. You and Sam work very, very hard and I am so proud to know you and to call you my friends. And I just want you both to pat each other on the back and know that like you what you're doing is making a big difference and if needed and and valued in our community. So thank you.

Teresa M, Program & Services Manager VAD

Thank you very much, Bean. Well, thank you again for joining VADP podcast today. Voice of Albertans with disabilities is a cross disability nonprofit organization of and for people with disabilities. We are guided by the principles of accessibility, equity and inclusion. Learn about VAD services on our website at vadsociety.ca or call 780-488-9088 For more information. If you have a topic you would like to hear more about in a podcast, please e-mail Teresa at that at VAD Society. CA with topic ideas, speaker suggestions are your feedback signing off for today? Together we hold the power.