By Stephanie Gauthier 乌鸦传媒� Contributor.

Corey smiles easily. He laughs and he curses, and he乌鸦传媒檚 hard not to like.

乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 a joker,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檒l do something so stupid out of the blue to put a smile on someone乌鸦传媒檚 face.乌鸦传媒�

This is true for the staff at Ellis Place, a subsidized, supportive housing site in Kelowna where he now lives, just as it乌鸦传媒檚 true for the people he乌鸦传媒檚 shared emergency shelter spaces with over the years.

Time evaporates when speaking with Corey, especially when the conversation turns to motorcycles. He loves riding them and building them. He scrolls through photos on his phone, stopping on a video of himself riding a custom bike.

Corey uses a hand-operated clutch to shift gears in the video. He does so because he doesn乌鸦传媒檛 have legs. They were both amputated above the knee in 2010. He doesn乌鸦传媒檛 complain about this misfortune or feel sorry for himself. He jokes about it instead. He says it helps put people at ease.

乌鸦传媒淲hat disability?乌鸦传媒� He pads the seat of his chair in mock surprise. 乌鸦传媒淢y legs, oh god, where乌鸦传媒檇 my legs go?乌鸦传媒�

Corey has a hereditary blood clotting disorder that led to the amputations. He shrugs about it now, saying he wouldn乌鸦传媒檛 take back his legs even if he could.

乌鸦传媒淚 do more with no legs than I ever did with them.乌鸦传媒�

Corey has a long history with drugs. He used cocaine for ten years and opiates for 25, but he乌鸦传媒檚 put all of that behind him.

乌鸦传媒淚 still like to get some coolers on the weekend,乌鸦传媒� he said. But, he乌鸦传媒檚 left the harder substances in the past and he乌鸦传媒檚 changed his lifestyle in a lot of other ways. He volunteers with his church now instead of running with motorcycle gangs. These changes tie back to Corey乌鸦传媒檚 mother, who died from lung cancer in 2017.

乌鸦传媒淚 was at her side when she passed away,乌鸦传媒� he says. 乌鸦传媒淪he always said to me, 乌鸦传媒榣ife乌鸦传媒檚 too short to be miserable, laughter乌鸦传媒檚 the best medicine, and pay it forward.乌鸦传媒�

Corey has lived at Ellis Place since December 2021. Before that, he was in an emergency shelter.

乌鸦传媒淚n the shelter, you乌鸦传媒檙e just in open pods so if you go to the washroom people are in your pod stealing. Here you have a locked door and workers that look out for you.乌鸦传媒�

Visit the to read the rest of Corey乌鸦传媒檚 story.

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