Millie Millie is 80 years old and she lives alone in her small apartment overlooking the park, along with her canary. She is lonely, her husband is dead, most of her friends are no longer alive and her children live on the other side of the country. She gets depressed and her doctor has her on anti-depressants. Millie makes ends meet but sometimes, towards the end of month, until her pension cheque arrives, she doesn’t have enough to eat. Personal Vulnerability Exercise

Ralph Poor Ralph has had a tough life. He is only 42 years old, but looks much older. He has been an alcoholic all his life and while he was able to work for a number of years, for the past 6 years he has been on the street. He is homeless, sometimes seeking shelter when it gets cold in one of local shelters. The public health nurse has been trying to link up with Ralph as he in the early stages of pneumonia. Personal Vulnerability Exercise

Stan Stan just graduated from college and has got a good job in the dot.com industry. He is an avid skier in the winter and roller blader in the summer. He is renting an apartment in the high-density West End. Sometimes he takes prescribed amphetamines to help him get those jobs done by deadline. Personal Vulnerability Exercise

Tina Tina is four years old. Every day she looks forward to going to pre-school. Staying at home with her mother, in their small mobile home is not much fun. Her mother is on welfare and doesn’t have much money to buy her any toys. Her father used to hit her mother and so they left their home several hundreds of miles away to get away from him. They have only been here for three months and her mother doesn’t really have any friends here yet. Personal Vulnerability Exercise

Bill There’s no question that Bill pushes it. He smokes too much, he drinks too much, and uses recreational drugs on the weekends. He has just bought an expensive condo in Yaletown and lives with his girlfriend Vanessa. Both enjoy attending sports and if there is an NBA game, or NHL game, in town, you can count on Bill and Vanessa being there. Personal Vulnerability Exercise

Sharla Sharla finds Canadian life interesting but she is reluctant to venture much beyond the local stores. She speaks very little English, even though she and her husband have been here for ten years. She is quite isolated, only seeing other women of her faith when her husband is able to drive her to their homes – they live a fair distance from their friends. Money remains tight, her husband holds down two jobs and Sharla stays home with her two children aged 3 and 4 years old. Personal Vulnerability Exercise

Edward Edward is 84 years old. He lives alone in his mobile home – he never has married and has no family in town. He is overweight and has high blood pressure but doesn’t drink or smoke. He has trouble getting to sleep and is on tranquilizers – he worries about dying. Money is a problem for him – his pension doesn’t carry very far and he has to be frugal in order to ensure he can pay for his rent. He is unhappy about this as he always worked hard as a labourer. He spends his time watching TV. He never did learn to read well enough to enjoy it. Personal Vulnerability Exercise

Mary Mary was born prematurely, four weeks early. She has just been home for the past week. Her parents are overly concerned about her. They have four other children: 1 ½ yrs., 3 yrs. old, 5 yrs. old and 7 yrs. old and Mary was the only one with complications at birth. But Mary is fine now. Her family lives out on a farm, quite a distance from town, but it is a great place for the children. Mary’s oldest siblings are being home schooled. Personal Vulnerability Exercise