A day with Mickey

It was a lifelong dream for Toronto Community Housing (TCHC) resident Naomi Adu to one day take her children to Disney. In May, that dream came true when the charitable organization Dreams Take Flight and TCHC’s Community Safety Unit (CSU) joined forces to bring 16 TCHC children to Florida’s Disney World for the day. 

“Ken Tooby (Community Safety Advisor) called me up and told me about the program and I was very excited to get my kids involved,” said Adu. “I’ve known Ken for years, so I knew my kids were in good hands with him.”  

Adu said she didn’t tell her three children—Clayton (11), Patrice (7) and Nathan (8)—until they went to pick up their swag bags on April 27, nine days before the trip.  

“I wanted to surprise them,” said Adu. “So, I told them we were going to pick up some stuff and when we arrived at the hotel (to pick up the trip’s swag bags), I told them they were going to Disney World. Oh my goodness, they were just bursting with excitement.” 

Dreams Take Flight provided every participant with a new pair of shoes, sweatpants, hoodie, t-shirt, and a variety of other things to take on the trip. 

“I was really surprised,” said Clayton. “The trip was so much fun, and my favorite ride was the Pirates of the Caribbean because that’s my favourite movie.”  

Established in 1989 by Air Canada employees who first raised funds to take 70 special needs children on a one-day trip to Disney World, Dreams Take Flight is now a charitable organization run by volunteers who seek donors to send children on these trips of a lifetime.  

Tooby says a colleague from Halton Community Housing suggested he apply to see if TCHC would be accepted into the program.  

“It’s a fantastic organization to work with,” said Tooby. “They treat the kids like VIPs from start to finish by kitting them out with everything they need for the trip.”  

In addition to the swag bag and trip supplies, Tooby said the kids get a warm, VIP reception at the airport when they arrive and are treated like VIPS throughout both flights and at the park itself. All meals and drinks are covered, and the children were each given US$70 to spend at the Disney gift shop.  

Tooby said the toughest part was selecting the children who go on the trip: “The Dreams Take Flight people asked me how many kids I’d like to take. I had no idea, so I said 18 and they agreed. Two kids had to drop out because of paperwork issues, but next year I asked for 30 spots, and I think we’ll get that no problem.”  

Brittany Lithgow, a Community Safety Advisor with CSU, and Charlett Taylor, Supervisor, Tenancy Management, West Operations, were also chaperones on the trip. Lithgow said the group was provided with Disney Speed Passes, allowing the children to maximize their time on rides and not waste any part of their day waiting in line: “It was really great because we could use the Disney app to see what the wait times were on rides so we could use the Speed Passes very strategically.”  

Initially, Tooby and Lithgow found some parents were skeptical about the trip and allowing their children to go to the USA for a day. “But, when we told them about the Dreams Take Flight charity, their website, the testimonials from other trips—they got on board pretty quickly,” said Tooby. 

The children spent about 12 hours on the ground at Disney World. The flight took off early on the morning of May 7, and by 9:30 p.m. they were driving back to the airport for the flight home.  

Tooby, Lithgow and Taylor agreed the dynamic of the children on the flight to Disney versus the dynamic on the flight home was quite different.  

“On the way there, the kids were not sure of the other kids from TCHC (and other organizations) and some were very quiet. But, on the return flight, they were all talking excitedly, non-stop and exchanging phone numbers and Instagram handles—the bonds of new friendships were solid,” said Lithgow.  

Adu said her three children absolutely loved the trip and added: “Clayton said he wants to go back next year as a volunteer to help the kids navigate the park.”