Chrissy Sadowski spent years caring for her mother, who has MS, without anyone calling it caregiving. She was a teenager seeking help who was told no. She was a young adult who grew up in a house full of unknowns and ambulance visits and learned to move on.

It wasn't until she was 38 years old, sitting in a room with the Young Caregivers Association, that it clicked. She had been a young caregiver the whole time.

Now Chrissy works for the YCA. Canada's only dedicated young caregiver organization and she's using everything she lived through to build the support system that didn't exist when she needed it.

She's also living with MS herself, navigating a condition that was invisible for 15 years before her right leg started to change. 

In this episode, Chrissy talks about what it actually means to be a young caregiver, including why a five-year-old reading to their sibling so a parent can shower counts, and what the healthcare system keeps getting wrong.

She shares the story of her son Darius going missing last summer, how first responders initially responded, and how that incident turned into police training and a vulnerable persons registry coming to Niagara Region.

She also talks about group home wait lists, the gap in respite care, and what she'd say to every parent, educator, and healthcare professional who still doesn't know this population exists.

👋 Guest - Chrissy Sadowski

Instagram - instagram.com/freshprincesschris/

YCA - youngcaregivers.ca

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⏰Chapters

0:00  Intro

1:29  What is the Young Caregivers Association?

11:01  What does an accessible future look like?

14:29  Growing up a young caregiver — without knowing it

19:07  Living with MS — from invisible to mobility aid

22:03  How disability changes the way the world treats you

27:13  Sharing the reality of MS on social media

30:04  Advocating for people with intellectual disabilities

33:03  Darius goes missing — and a registry gets built

37:12  One thing every listener should understand

39:15  Where to find Chrissy and YCA

40:33  Simon's closing thoughts