How often did you venture outside of your home at the onset of the pandemic?
While the past two years have felt alienating for many people, the pandemic has disproportionately affected critically vulnerable individuals.
And for Sharona Franklin, a Vancouver-based artist, writer, and disability advocate, isolation isn't a novel concept. As a person living with multiple rare diseases and mobility issues, she's spent a great deal of her life inside.
"It was really surreal," she tells Vancouver Is Awesome. "People say things like, "Oh, well you've been homebound most of your life...you have spent so much time homebound anyways that must not affect you.'
"But it does."
In the age of coronavirus, most people followed B.C.'s public health orders and didn't socialize with other people. But as soon as the orders lifted, many of them quickly started socializing, albeit with some precautions.
Franklin, on the other hand, hasn't resumed her regular pre-pandemic schedule—and it only involved socializing or going out once a week or once every two weeks.
"I honestly haven't socialized outside of the home during the pandemic...maybe once every few months," she explains. "I take four different immunosuppressants and I have a lot of different conditions that make you vulnerable to COVID.
"I've been really afraid, to be honest."
While she's at home, Franklin channels her energy through creative pursuits, such as sculpting and writing. "You can have lots of energy but your hips might be inflamed...and even if you have energy, you have to lie in bed."
Finding a place to live has always been challenging for people living with disabilities, but the pandemic has exacerbated challenges to accessing housing, the artist explains. For one, physically inspecting an apartment or living space is a safety issue for critically vulnerable people.
There is also a "double standard" on applications for government housing, Franklin says. Many buildings require applicants to be full-time wheelchair users and won't accept people with other mobility issues.
"I asked them well, what about people who use walkers? Because there are no buildings for people who use walkers and there's no building for part-time wheelchair users," she describes, adding that many disabilities fluctuate.
While the internationally-renowned artist has enjoyed praise for her work, there are many barriers to accessing the tools and space she needs to facilitate it. Having depended on a close-knit community of friends to assist her, she hopes that art will become more accessible to people living with disabilities in the future.
"Because I know a lot of really amazing disabled artists who don't pursue it just because of the precarity of it," she says. "It's definitely really hard to make a living when you can't take most of your opportunities just due to the fact that you are ill."
