Access 4 Disabilities

ABOUT ACCESS 4 DISABILITIES

Turning Life’s Obstacles Into
Accessibility Opportunities

After Bunnie Wigley’s stroke in February 2016, causing 80% paralysis to her left side, she found herself needing the aid of a caregiver and would require the use of a wheelchair for 95% of her mobility. She discovered that just going about her day to day life required a substantial amount of planning. Additionally, she found that when making trips to shop, bank, or to access medical treatment, it seemed there were always barriers that made it more difficult than it had to be.

It became commonly clear that even though there were marked accessible parking stalls nearby, the public facilities they supported were often not easily accessible to a person with disabilities. When meeting other persons with disabilities in the community, it quickly became evident that Bunnie was not alone in her frustrations. They also spoke of their experience with accessibility difficulties that continually challenged their everyday access to life’s opportunities.

In April 2017, ACCESS 4 DISABILITIES was founded by Bunnie Wigley, Murray Roddis, and Murray Grovet to assist persons with disabilities by dismantling the physical, systemic, technological and social barriers that exist in our communities. ACCESS 4 DISABILITIES will speak for the collective voices of persons with all types of disabilities and will work toward their inclusion and universal access to facilities, employment, education and recreation in the communities of Central Alberta.

At ACCESS 4 DISABILITIES, we intend to remove the barriers that impede persons with disabilities and give them opportunities to engage in their communities in ways they have not been able to before. We want people to think inclusively whenever they build something, because even though they may not have a disability today, this does not guarantee that they will not have a disability tomorrow.

ACCESS 4 DISABILITIES, stands together with all Albertans to create a universally accessible province. We support the development of the ACCESSIBLE ALBERTA ACT to provide a solid baseline to create consistent access to a fully inclusive economy where persons with any disability can successfully participate in all that Alberta has to offer.

Mission Statement

We are a Not-For-Profit Canadian Corporation helping individuals, families, or groups, seeking universally inclusive access to everyday life. Our focus is:

  • To promote community inclusion and diversity for persons with disabilities,
  • To find solutions to meaningful access and inclusive design inadequacies in our communities through diplomacy, education, engineering and/or technology,
  • To source innovative, efficient, cost-effective technology solutions that will empower community life accessibility at all levels,
  • To promote a globally recognizable symbol that certifies field-tested meaningful access, verified by precise repeatable methodologies,
  • To be a voice of representation for persons with disabilities seeking meaningful access to all life activities,
  • To create accessible activities for those affected by traumatic illness, abuse, or disability through fundraising for selected causes where zero is the minimum donation required and therefore, “ALL U NEED IS LOVE” to participate.

Our Team

Bunnie L. Wigley

Board Chairwoman and Founding Director

Bunnie leads the company with her grounded wisdom, subtle humor, and optimistic on-point focus. She has a diploma in social work and has worked in child and youth care primarily with at-risk youth. Bunnie brings her management style and experience as the coordinator of two troubled teen treatment centers, where Bunnie also wrote the policy and procedures manuals for one and assisted on another. She has worked as a foster care support worker overseeing foster care homes and foster children. Most recently and before her stroke in 2016, Bunnie was the first Maternity Home Director for the Central Alberta Pregnancy Care Center, where she also assisted in writing the policies and procedures for its continued operations.

Bunnie leads our organization as a person with visible disabilities that inspires us by her unwavering faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Bunnie may have a lower leg amputation and paralysis affecting her left side, but with a twinkle in her eye, Bunnie says that she still has “one good arm, one good leg and one good eye!” Bunnie is an excellent listener and one of those gifted and inspirational people who inspires more by her presence than her words. One of those people in life who knows just when to say the one thing that will open a world of opportunities.

Murray C. Roddis

RHFAC Professional and Founding Director

Raised in Central Alberta, as a child, Murray struggled with ADHD, severe learning disabilities, and bullying, due to childhood trauma, but he has always turned to the Lord for the Lord’s leading and guidance. His difficulties in school taught him to look outside the traditional box of ideas and concepts and often found himself finding solutions to problems that no one else saw because of his unique perspective.

For the past 7 years, Murray has experienced life as a caregiver aiding his wife on her journey as a lower leg amputee due to complications from Type One Diabetes and Spina Bifida. He was able to see how 15 minutes can, as the result of a stroke, change the life-of-the-party person to a person with disabilities that will require the assistance of another person for the rest of her life unless God prevails. His experience has given him a birds-eye view of the many challenges a person with disabilities faces in our communities.

Murray saw that the obstacles were not just physical barriers but often they were attitudinal or due to a general lack of education or technology or just making unsolicited assumptions regarding the needs of a person with disabilities. He knew he wanted to do all that he could to dismantle these barriers and give these people the satisfaction of being equitable members of society.

Recently, Murray completed the training and secured the CSA Group designation of Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification™ RHFAC Professional. Combined with his 40-year career in Construction Surveying, his RHFAC Professional designation, and his continued experiences as a caregiver, Murray intends to improve the level of accessibility in the communities of Central Alberta.

Murray is always looking for solutions to help make life a little easier and a little more accessible. This, combined with his experience as a professional motorsports photographer, event-coordinator, and fundraiser, Murray is on a mission to create a more inclusive world with fewer obstacles for all persons with disabilities and empower them to achieve more than they may have even dreamed.

Murray C. Grovet

Operations Manager and Founding Director

Murray may seem quiet and unassuming, but it won’t take too long before you are laughing to his crazy sense of humour and wit. Not the kind of fun that’s at someone’s expense unless it is directed at his brother or sister, but the sort of comedy that makes you want to spend more time with him.

Murray is always looking for the best in people because he knows that is how the Lord looks at him. He has a very positive outlook on life and is a natural and compassionate caregiver. People that know him say that he is consistent, honest, trustworthy, kind, generous and values integrity.

Murray leads well by example, and his instant ability to know just what to do when the obstacle, for most, seems out of reach. He is an exacting visionary, an artist, a four-dimensional thinker, one who can see the whole picture not just as it is, but what it is about to be. He is a precision sculptor and craftsman, that knows precisely where each minute detail needs to be to create the perfect finished product.

Murray started his first custom car business right out of high school and over the years since he has started, owned, operated, and managed custom vehicle shops (both land and marine), restaurants, and precast concrete building construction companies.

As a craftsman of custom hot rods, Murray’s creations have been cover‑stories for magazines like Mopar Magazine, Truckin’ Magazine, and others, as well as multiple wins at internationally recognized custom car shows like SEMA, World of Wheels, and others. Murray uses this same creative craftsmanship in all of his projects regardless if it is a commercial precast concrete building or a 5-star restaurant.

Murray is looking forward to taking on the challenges that persons with disabilities have to find ways to help them overcome the barriers that stand in their way by being there to walk that journey by their side, encouraging them every step of the way!