Joanne Larade

It is with heavy hearts that No More Warehousing announces the passing of Joanne Larade, a beloved member of our team. Joanne passed away peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, May 14th. She lived fully, fighting for the equal treatment of persons with disabilities. Joanne was a founder of Empowered, a group fighting for better treatment of persons with disabilities. She was a fierce, passionate advocate, ever optimistic that the province of Nova Scotia would see real change. She was a strong believer in community, not institutionalized, housing for people with disabilities. As a resident of the Sagewood Continuing Care facility, she knew first-hand the challenges of living in a nursing home as a 47-year-old women.

Joanne has been involved with our organization since its founding. She has spoken publicly about the challenges associated with living in a long-term care facility as a younger adult.

The day before her death, Joanne gave an empowering speech while emceeing at a No More Warehousing event:

“On behalf of all disabled Nova Scotians, we are going to fight this. We are challenging the government to wake up. It is time that we stand together. They need to help us. I waited 20 years at home before I had to opportunity to move to Halifax. But I had to settle for long-term care. Living with dementia [patients], it is not a life. The government needs to wake up. This is our time and we are going to make a change. I challenge the government to call me. I’ll tell them how to fix it. I know exactly what we need.”

We are grateful for the time we were able to spend with Joanne and will continue to fight for equal rights for all persons with disabilities in her honour.

Her family has asked for donation to be made to Muscular Dystrophy Canada.