Wesley Housing Provides New Hope for the Disabled
The Francis “Kit” Callahan’s Story
As told to Ellen Walker, RN
At 9:12 a.m. on October 23, 1993, I was found unconscious in a stairwell in Chicago. When the paramedics arrived, I had a Glasgow Coma Score of 3 (the lowest measure of consciousness). In Burke, Virginia, my mother, Katherine “Kim” Callahan, received a call that is every parent’s nightmare. I was in critical condition with a head injury — another statistic of a violent crime. I had just graduated from Virginia Tech and was working as a ‘runner’ at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. I took the orders my company received and delivered them to the trading pits. I loved the fast pace. Then my life took a drastic turn; my family didn’t know if I’d live.
Recovery was a long, painful road. Following a year and a half of rehabilitation, I returned to live with my parents. I started an internship, but I needed more office experience, and so I spent 18 months in job training. A Kappa Sigma fraternity brother helped me get a job at Logicon, part of Northrop Grumman. The job was stressful and the commute by bus was difficult. I ultimately found a job as a courtesy clerk at Safeway, where I enjoy working today.
My biggest goal has been to live on my own. Thanks to hard work and a loving family, I moved into an apartment at Coppermine Place I in August 2006. I’ve made friends here, and the staff members are great mentors. My days are more leisurely than before my accident. This is not by choice — it just takes me longer to prepare for the day. When I’m not working, I’ll send e-mails, play chess, or see a movie. At Coppermine, I can do these things independently. As a Brain Injury Services Speakers’ Bureau volunteer, I describe how being a survivor changes your dreams. But I’m proof that you can live your life well, even after surviving a brain injury. My motto: Always remember that you can change the world.
“I don’t remember much from the time of my accident. Ellen Walker, RN, helped me tell my story. She never took care of me, but she saw the nurses’ smiles when they received my story in a Christmas card, and she said, ‘This is why we entered the nursing profession!’” — Kit Callahan
Editors Note: The Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND) honored Wesley Housing by naming Herndon’s newly constructed Coppermine Place I the 2007 Best Project of the Year in Northern Virginia. The four-story elevator building has 22 one- and two-bedroom apartments specifically designed for individuals with severe mobility impairments. It features wheelchair-accessible kitchens with lower countertops and bathrooms with roll-in showers.
Coppermine Place I serves individuals living on fixed
incomes, many of whom rely solely on Social Security Disability
benefits or suffer from motor impairments. Adjacent to Coppermine Place
I is Coppermine Place II which offers affordable, top-of-the-line
housing for seniors. In October 2006, the Coalition for Housing
Opportunities in the Community for Everyone (CHOICE) gave its first
Accessible Design Award to Wesley Housing at Coppermine Place I. Residents of the 22-unit, fully accessible community submitted the application on Wesley Housing’s behalf.