Article content It has been over 30 years since Jim and Colleen Henderson’s 25th wedding anniversary trip to Hawaii was cut short by a call telling them their three daughters had been in a car crash in Maple Ridge while heading home from a friend’s house. Tricia, 20, was killed. Krista, 18, had a broken leg and deep cuts to her right arm.
Carla, 15, spent 90 days in a coma, followed by two years in hospital for rehab. The Langley couple are now struggling to find a forever home for Carla, who was left with visual impairment, short-term memory loss and extreme physical impairments. She requires round-the-clock supervision.
Since 2010, Carla had been living at the South House group home for brain injuries in Langley operated by Connect Communities. But earlier this year, Jim and Colleen had to move her after the for-profit company raised their rates from $260 to $500 a day. The couple said a structured settlement from ICBC allowed them to pay for private care for their daughter for years, but the new rates were more than they could afford.
“Carla had enough money, after she lived at home for 17 years, to be able to afford to go there. She lived there for almost 13 years and at the end we were paying $260 a day,” said Jim Henderson, who noted that in 2019, their initial rate of $225 a day had been increased 16 per cent. “My letter back to them at the time was you should raise the rate every year so that just doesn’t happen, because it’s always culture shock.
You go.