Tagen Marshall

Working Together To Help

Tagen Marshall
Fund Mobility

Tagen's Need
$89,769.40

Tagen is a University student who is restricted to using a wheelchair for his mobility everyday. In order to get to his classes and be involved in his community, he is dependent on a wheelchair accessible van. While in foster care as a child, the province of British Columbia provided Tagen’s need. But now as an adult with disabilities, there is no government funding available to supply this necessary tool in Tagen’s life, nor to maintain it. So we are looking to you to help fund mobility for Tagen.

After consulting with mobility experts, the van that Tagen needs is a 2021 Toyota Sienna which has been refitted for wheelchair access.

The total cost for this vehicle is

$89,769.40

Tagen needs your help to Fund Mobility

Tagen's Story

My name is Tagen Marshall.  I am 20 years old, and have Spastic Quadriplegia Cerebral Palsy. I’m a student at VIU studying Philosophy, and I hope to complete my doctorate and teach.  I want to be as independent as I can, and to support myself as much as I’m able.

I was born at 26 weeks, and weighed about 2 lbs.  My parents were teenagers, not in good places in their own lives, and were totally unprepared for all that came with caring for a very sick baby.  I needed to be in an incubator and have supplemental oxygen for 2 months, and didn’t leave the hospital until I was 2 ½ months old.  Due to my health difficulties, the seizures I was having, and my parents’ own troubles, I was put into foster care for the first time when I was two.  As a child, I really struggled with the stress around me, and eventually developed high blood pressure. I just felt I couldn’t cope with everything in my life.  I was so anxious, and my blood pressure got so bad, that I often threw up.

When I was around 10, my mom couldn’t cope anymore, and I was dropped off to live with my dad. That didn’t last for long as my dad’s girlfriend was expecting their first baby and was struggling, and I also needed surgery on my feet.  Because of my Cerebral Palsy, my muscles will continue to tighten and contract my whole life. This means I am in constant pain. My toes were flipping up towards my legs, and so just after turning 12, I was sent to have a surgery where some tendons were cut, and I could have some relief.  While at Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, the Social Workers there could see how much stress I was under, and didn’t feel my home environment was healthy for me, so I was sent back into foster care.  My parents gave up their rights to me that year.

This is when I met the family that I live with now.  They provided respite for the foster mom I moved in with.  When she remarried and moved to Alberta, I moved in permanently with my respite family.  Last year after turning 19, and aging out of the foster care system, we did the paperwork so I could still live with them in a HomeShare arrangement.  They act as my caregivers, as I require full care 24/7.  I’m in a wheelchair full-time, but it’s not just my legs that don’t work.  My right hand doesn’t work at all, and I only have a little bit of use in my left hand. They lift me out of bed every morning, bathe me, dress me, comb my hair, and do physio with me so I’m not in as much pain. If I need a drink of water or a door opened, my caregivers do it for me.  They make all my food, do my laundry, they drive me everywhere, and they listen when I need to talk.  One of the best parts is that they have four biological children, I am right in the middle age-wise, and we all get along really well.  I feel like I have found a place that I can be forever if I like, though I struggle with the fear that it’s too good to last. It’s getting easier not to be afraid, but I know this is something I will probably work on for the rest of my life.

 

I was the first in my biological family to graduate from high school, and now, with the use of adaptive technology, I attend university. Because I was in foster care for so long, the government pays for my education.  I couldn’t do it otherwise.  The muscles in my eyes are tightening, which makes reading really hard, so my text books are translated from print to voice.  I use speech recognition software to write my papers and exams, and I have a scribe and care aid who attend university with me. In spite of my challenges, I have made the honour roll.   Public speaking and connecting with people are some of my favourite things.  I’ve been a speaker at Missions Fest in Vancouver twice, I’ve been interviewed on TV, radio, and spoken to Chambers of Commerce and City Councils about my passion for fighting Human Trafficking. I am one of the cohosts for The Canadian Philosophy Show that airs on CHLY Radio. I volunteer with The Federation of BC Youth in Care Network, which helps foster community for youth who are, or have been, in care. I am also the Spiritual Life Coordinator for the men’s group at my church.  I know if I have the right tools and help, I can achieve a lot. 

The biggest obstacle I’m facing right now is that the specialized van I use is on its last legs. It was refitted so I can drive my wheelchair into the passenger side, and then clip each wheel to the floor. The van was purchased for me when I was a foster child, but there is no government funding to replace it, now that I’m 20.  Because of some of my disabilities, public transportation is not an option for me. No matter how hard I work, or how big my dreams are, I can’t succeed without a van. It’s literally the only way I can leave home, unless I’m physically carried. I live on a small disability income, and there is no way for me to purchase a new van myself.  I want to be a productive, positive member of society.  I want to be a giver and not a taker.  I don’t like asking for help, and I feel really badly asking. But I really do need help.  With a van that gets me to the places I need to go, I know I can achieve my dreams, and I know I will make a difference in the world.

How Can You Help

01.

Donate

Tagen needs people like you to give generously to help fund his van. 

02.

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03.

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Supporters

Rick Hansen

“I had the pleasure of meeting Tagen Marshall, an incredible young man who remains positive in spite of the personal challenges he’s been confronted with in his life’s journey. As an honour student of Vancouver Island University, Tagen is an active member of his community.

Having recently aged out of the foster care system, Tagen understands the experience of being a young person in foster care, and he volunteers his time with the Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks to help current and former foster care youth find a peer-support community. He is also an avid human rights champion, and has been part of a team advocating against the issues of Human Trafficking in British Columbia.

Transportation is the life blood for someone like Tagen. A wheelchair accessible van is essential to his independence. From my own lived experience, I am aware of how vital it is for people with disabilities to have mobility solutions so that they can maximize their ability. It’s the difference between being on the sidelines and being able to participate in and fully contribute to our society.

Tagen has a tremendously bright future and much to contribute. He is a true difference maker! Together, we can help Tagen remove fundamental barriers, so that people of all abilities can live to their full potential in a healthy, accessible and inclusive world!”

Rick Hansen
Rick Hansen Foundation

Cathy Peters

BC anti-human trafficking educator, speaker, advocate
North Vancouver, BC
Tagen Marshall is a “World-Changer”. He is an excellent and passionate public speaker who speaks up for youth, the vulnerable, foster care youth and the disabled.
 
He has overcome tremendous adversity in his own life and now speaks out for others in order to help, inspire and encourage them to reach their fullest potential.
 
Specifically Tagen  has presented with me for the past 5 years about the crime of Human Trafficking, Sexual Exploitation and Child Sex Trafficking in BC and How to Stop it.
 
It is a privilege and honor to endorse Tagen’s timely, sensitive and effective advocacy to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves.
A new van and new wheelchair would hugely help Tagen to increase his mobility to reach more audiences.