Laura Challice wins award for article on successful transition
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Hopes story will be an inspiration to others
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. - Laura Challice, a member of Community Living Peterborough, who advocates for herself and others, has been honoured with Community Living Ontario’s newsletter article award, for a piece she wrote about her successful transition into independent living.
In the article, entitled “A Journey to Independent Living,” Challice, who has been living independently since September 2007, writes about her experiences on the path to living on her own, her accomplishments and challenges faced.
Challice says she’s glad to have won the award, which was presented to her at the Community Living Ontario annual general meeting in April. She says she’s happy to have shared her story with others and hopes her story provides inspiration to people.
“I feel good that the stories I’ve written are out there and that they’re getting acknowledged,” she tells Community Living Leaders.
“I would hope to inspire those who are not already living on their own to get motivated to finding a place of their own and they can see how nice it is to live in their own apartment.”
In the article, Challice notes how living independently has created a “good balance” in her life, one that has enabled her to maintain a strong relationship with her parents, while living in an environment where she’s meeting new friends.
“I can still go home and spend a night or two if I want, but I still have that independence from my parents,” she says.
In her article, Challice writes that independent living has given her social life a major boost. Today, she enjoys active friendships with other women living in her building and no longer has the challenge of getting into Peterborough.
“I am able to have more of a social life by getting into the community more,” she writes. “In the past, this was limited due to my living in the country and having to rely on my parents to drive me into town.”
Challice, who has had two roommates in the 22 months she has lived independently, says one of the lessons she has learned over time is that it’s important to find things in common with housemates. The two most important things she says she has learned from independent living are budgeting and time management.
