SaltWire Selects June 22: East Coast stories you'll want to read

These stories about Atlantic Canadians and their communities are worth your time

"A lot of people have been isolated for years because of barriers." Gerry Post

When the world slows down, dreamers dream

“For many,(the pandemic) is the first time they’ve experienced social isolation," Gerry Post shares in Salt Halifax's latest video on dreaming of a better Nova Scotia after COVID-19. “However, for many disabled persons, it’s their daily norm because of the barriers that are placed in their way within the community.

“The best way to measure the quality of a community is in the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens — the elderly, the homeless and the disabled," Post says.

SaltWire teamed up with Mirror Image Media and Halifax-based writer Robyn McNeil to speak with five people about their perspective on a post-pandemic province.

Meet Gerry and some of the obstacles a third of Nova Scotians face when trying to shop and play in downtown Halifax.

"I think with COVID, Mother Earth has given us a kick in the pants." Gerry Post - Mirror Image Media

Missing their kids

Explaining visiting rules around COVID-19 has been a challenge for parents and caregivers of people with intellectual disabilities, the Cape Breton Post's Sharon Montgomery-Dupe reports.

She shares the stories of two families who want to visit more freely with their adult children living in group homes.

“To understand what it means to families, to real people, they have to understand what intellectual disabilities mean,” Charlene Hunter explains about why a physically-distant, outdoor visit wouldn't make sense to her son John.

“My son is very ritual. Everything is fine as long as it’s within the routine.”

Charlene Hunter and her husband Gary Hunter with son John, 30, during a visit home at a group home for people with intellectual disabilities in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, where John lives. -Contributed

Listen to the trees

From ancient, small tuckamores to introduced species planted by royalty, the oldest trees of St. John's have centuries of stories to tell.

The Telegram's Juanita Mercer tracked down some of the noteworthy grand dames of the urban forest to share with readers through stories, photos and an interactive map.

“I don't think that there's enough attention given to collectively recognizing, preserving and growing the natural heritage of this city," Paul Doucet, the self-described "custodian" of a giant tree on Mount Cashel Road, told Mercer.

"It makes the city worth living in. We should be doing more.”

This white poplar tree is located at 6 Mount Cashel Rd. - Juanita Mercer

PhD by 20?

Univeresity senior Vivian Xie has been wowing her teachers since early elementary and that wasn't that long ago.

The 15-year-old, who graduated from a P.E.I. high school before she was a teenager, is nearing the end of her science degree at University of Toronto.

"Xie dismisses any suggestion that she has foregone her childhood to focus on nothing other than education," The Guardian's Jim Day reports.

“Not at all," she insists.

She has friends, hobbies and lots of big plans.

“I genuinely think that she is like all of us at university," said one of her U of T classmates. “It is just that she understands things a lot easier than the rest of us do."

Keep your eye on Vivian.

Vivian Xie says being only 15 and five years young than many of her peers at the University of Toronto is not proving a barrier to socializing. Students and professors describe the teen as being mature well beyond her years. - Contributed

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