Season Four - Episode Nine - Charles and Megen Olfert

Megen Olfert smiles thinking about the backyard treehouse her father designed for her when she was a kid. 

It was wide enough for a motorised wheelchair to manoeuvre inside, and a cement path wound its way through the backyard up to the treehouse instead of stairs or a ladder. 

“I felt like I was on equal ground as a kid,” said Megen, “because sometimes when you’re disabled it means you have to do things differently even though you can do the same thing. It made me feel included.”

Megen was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at nine months old. It became clear to her parents, Charles and Leila Olfert, that their daughter would need a wheelchair and their house would not meet Megen’s needs. So, Charles began designing a new home for the family.

This is an excerpt from a story I wrote for the CBC Saskatchewan website based on this episode. I love the story of Megan's treehouse!

Charles and Leila have been living in this fully accessible home for the past 36 years. Charles is an architect with AODBT architecture and interior design and is passionate about accessibility. He shares that passion in this episode and I am grateful to him for it. 

I am also grateful to have met Megen at her condominium at Cheshire Homes of Saskatoon, along with her service dog, Que. He makes a few appearances in this episode. 

What you are going to hear is the story of a young woman who was not going to let her disabilities prevent her from living a full and abundant life and the father who used his architectural and design knowledge to ensure she had access to everything she needed. 

Charles was kind enough to give me a tour of his house before introducing me to Megen at her condo. In between the tour and meeting Megen, I sat down with Charles to learn more about his passion for accessibility, how he is working with local businesses and organizations to make accessibility a priority, and his belief in the Rick Hansen Foundation's certification course. 

I had so much fun spending time with Charles and Megen and I hope you enjoy listening to their story. 

Thank you so much for continuing to support a local, independent podcast and don't forget to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear. Oh, and there are some wonderful photos of Charles and Megen taken by Saskatoon photographer Rona Andreas on the website and social media sites. 

Thanks again for listening!

Cheers...Eric

• Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
• Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
• Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
• Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis