Steve Barrie’s dismal living conditions first came to light when his worker who assists adults with developmental disabilities came to his home to look around, after Steve came to her to ask for caulking and weather stripping to winterize his bathroom. She couldn’t believe that someone lived there. The walls in the bathroom had cracks that you could put your fingers through to the outside. The ceilings were barely six feet tall. The bedroom was a crawl-in-loft. When Frontiers saw Steve’s house, it was reminiscent of houses they sometimes found in those desolate, isolated communities far to the north. They did not think such poverty could exist so close to Ottawa. (Almonte, Ontario, 2003)
