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Red Deer Advocate MONDAY, NOV. 30, 2015
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Fight for sight
CAWES
Stress reaches tripping point
FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN AIMS TO BUY SPECIAL GLASSES FOR GIRL LOSING HER VISION
BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter is heading into a busy season with an already packed house. Ian Wheeliker, CAWES executive director, said in mid-October rooms at the 40-bed Red Deer shelter started filling up in response to oilpatch job loss. “More (domestic violence) is being reported now because the stress with the economic conditions. It’s sort of peaked and hit that tipping point in terms of stress. Our crisis line is extremely busy. We’re running full, or just under full,” Wheeliker said. Typically, women try to keep their family together for Christmas so the shelter gets busier afterwards. He said economic downturns are always difficult. For those in the oilpatch, men spend a lot more time at home instead of being away for weeks at a time. The intensity and frequency of trouble can increase. Most of the violence is psychological and verbal with episodes of physical violence. He said safety for families is the No. 1 priority and beds are found for families at high risk of violence even if it’s in a shelter in another community. A crisis team is also ready to work with clients in the community. “Are we going to have situations where people are calling and our services are overrun? Probably. But we’re in a better position now to deal with it than we ever were.” Wheeliker said providing domestic violence services in the community is already underway. “A lot of women don’t want to come into shelter. They’re calling for information and we can immediately provide them with the crisis services they need.” He said a lot of people think you have to be in the shelter to services. That’s not true. Crisis counselling is available through the community crisis team, and families can also be hooked into other services at Central Alberta Women’s Outreach, Catholic Family Services, Red Deer Housing Team and other community agencies.
Please see SHELTER on Page A2
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Francesca Cicuto-Tietzsch and her mother, Adriana Tietzsch. Francesca suffers from Stargardt Disease, an inherited juvenile macular degeneration. INSET: Hoping for a little Christmas magic, Francesca wrote a letter to Santa Claus asking for support to buy the glasses.
BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Adriana Tietzsch broke down in tears when she learned her daughter Francesca was losing her eyesight. It started as most vision problems begin. The elementary school student complained that she had difficulties seeing the whiteboard in the classroom. Tietzsch took her daughter to an eye doctor in Red Deer and later to Edmonton for further testing. A genetic test confirmed the 10-year-old had
Stargardt Disease, a common childhood eye disease that affects most people under the age of 20. “Imagine they tell you that your daughter is going to lose her sight,” said Tietzsch. “It has been tough but I have to stay calm for my daughter.” In time, the young girl will likely lose her vision to the point of legal blindness. There is no cure for the disease. Her vision today, a year from the date when the family heard the diagnosis, is 20-150. A person with 20-200 vision is considered legally blind.
But Tietzsch did not want to give up the fight for her daughter. It is what any mother would do. She started researching and came across eSight, a pair of special glasses for people with low vision that would help her daughter prolong her vision. A fundraising campaign was launched to raise the $15,000 to buy the glasses. They are about $3,000 short of reaching the goal. They have set up Let’s Keep Francesca’s Eyes Open on GoFundMe. “She will be able to read books because she is a passionate reader,” said Tietzsch. “She has been very discouraged this year because she cannot read small print. In school they have to enlarge the words. Last year she had lots of good grades. She is probably used to living her life in blurriness. With these glasses she will be able to see everything in detail. She is going to be able to have a semi-normal life.”
Please see GLASSES on Page A2
Dream home up for grabs BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF
Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate Staff
Red Deerians browse through the kitchen of the Kinsmen Dream Home located at 77 Lalor Drive, on Saturday afternoon. Early bird ticket sales for the Kinsmen Dream Home Lottery ended on Sunday.
WEATHER Sunny. High 3. Low -16.
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Dreamers — it’s time to wake up and buy a ticket or two for the 2015 Kinsmen Dream Home Lottery. Red Deer’s longest running dream home lottery is in its 34th year and features a stunning three-bedroom home and lot worth $850,000 in Lancaster as its grand prize. “We sell a total 14,100 tickets on the dream home. That’s it. That’s the smallest number for any dream home lottery that’s in Alberta,” said Len Sisco, 2015 Kinsmen Dream Home chair. The dream home, located at 77 Lalor Dr. built by Larkaun Homes, opened to the public on Oct. 3. The grand prize and auxiliary prizes, will
be drawn Dec. 31. “It’s not a cookie cutter house by any stretch of the imagination.” The 2,369-square foot home has twoand-a-half bathrooms, custom maple cabinets, double attached garage, a double-sided gas fireplace, and mainfloor laundry. About 70 per cent of tickets were purchased for last year’s dream home and 88 per cent in 2013. A separate 5050 lottery is always a sell-out. “Somebody is going to win the house. For a $100 investment, they’ve got an $850,000 home so it’s a good return on that investment,” Sisco said. So far ticket sales have been soft in this economy.
Please see DREAM HOME on Page A2
Service packed for tribute to MLA killed in crash Mourners packed a public memorial service for a provincial politician killed while helping a motorist in a snowstorm. Story on PAGE A3
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