Sari Russell of Deaf Access Simcoe Muskoka stands in front of the gaping hole that used to be her office wall.
Shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, a driver crashed through the Anne Street building which houses four non-profit agencies: Deaf Access Simcoe Muskoka, the CNIB, the Alzheimer Society and Catholic Family Services.
The 39-year old man had to be extricated by Barrie Firefighters and Simcoe County Paramedics.
Barrie Police later said he had suffered a medical emergency before the crash.
"The car was fully embedded in the building," Russell said while considering herself lucky she wasn't sitting at her desk when it happened.
"All four agencies are out of the building today," added the executive director who believes their displacement could be longer term.
"I believe the other three will be able to re-enter tomorrow or Friday awaiting engineer's approval. But Deaf Access Services, we're not sure when our space will be ready for usage again."
Russell says the agency is going to need all the help it can to re-establish its headquarters.
In the short term, Deaf Access is urging its clients to call or email at [email protected]
Russell hopes the organization can share some space with the other agencies in the building.
Deaf Access Simcoe Muskoka services include sign-language interpretation and note-taking services for deaf and hard of hearing people for all of Simcoe County and Muskoka.
Russell acknowledges the random crash is something she would never have imagined.
"This was not on the scope of my job description when I took on this position but all in stride," said Russell. "Most importantly no was inside the building at the time. Our thoughts are with the man."
