Freeing Teresa

A True Story about My Sister and Me — by Franke James

Freeing Teresa

Teresa’s Top Ten Countdown

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Teresa at home in Vancouver, wearing a big smile and a favourite I Love NY shirt
Teresa at home in Vancouver, wearing a big smile and a favourite I Love NY shirt

Ten Years of Celebrations!

Yes, it has been ten years! The book, Freeing Teresa, tells of Teresa’s narrow escape from an end-of-life nursing home. Four of her older siblings insisted she needed to live there, but Teresa (and Franke) didn’t listen to them. Teresa is feisty and not someone who likes to be bossed around. Proving the naysayers wrong, she has lived successfully in the community for over a decade. And she is celebrating all the wonderful things she has done in this Top Ten Countdown from 2014 to 2023! (Thankfully Bill and I believed all along that Teresa had many places to go, things to do, and people to meet.)

Teresa celebrated the ten year anniversary with a glass of champagne! She is wearing pink glasses, a tie-dye shirt and ball cap

Teresa celebrated her ten year anniversary of freedom with a well-earned glass of champagne!

Teresa bounces helium balloons around

Here is our top ten countdown…

TEN (10) Birthdays

Teresa leans forward and blows out the candles on her 2023 birthday cake. She is surrounded by colourful helium birthday balloons.
Photos of Teresa blowing out birthday candles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022

Ten birthdays, starting with the Big Five-Oh (50) on July 22nd, 2014. Then it was like playing dominoes, successfully knocking down 51 and 52, then 53, 54, 55, 56, and into the home stretch 57, 58, and bango! The 59th in 2023! Every year was great. How the years flew by! Congratulations Teresa! You did it with style—and we know that your Six-0h (60) will be just as amazing!

NINE (9) Tie-Dye Sweat Shirts. At least!

Teresa in nine different tie-dye shirts collected through the years

Over the years, Teresa has totally transformed her wardrobe, turning herself into a colourful superstar! She currently has at least nine tie-dye shirts in her room and has worn many more over the years. By the way, Teresa has also developed a passion for I ♥️ NY T-shirts. She has a half-dozen of those, too.

EIGHT (8) Medical Emergencies

Top Ten Countdown includes eight medical emergency photos from two hernia surgeries, two broken ankles, two dental surgeries, one blocked esophagus, and one nuclear octreotide scan — a cancer scare, but luckily, Teresa got the all-clear.

Two hernia surgeries, two broken ankles, two dental surgeries, one blocked esophagus, and one nuclear octreotide scan — a cancer scare, but luckily, Teresa got the all-clear.

SEVEN (7) Agencies Working Together

The Top Ten Countdown includes seven agency photos showing the fun support they provide and the warm relationships she's built

Teresa is receiving great support from the disability community and service agencies in BC. Spectrum Society for Community Living is her lead agency, and their team is doing a fabulous job. Teresa is also getting lots of support, advice and friendship from Inclusion BC, PLAN, Down Syndrome BC, Community Living BC, Canadian Down Syndrome Society, and Inclusion Canada.

SIX (6) Hundred Chicken Pies

Teresa loves chicken pies and eats, and draws them, and writes poems about them in this Top Ten Countdown

Who knows how many chicken pies Teresa has eaten over the last ten years? She loves chicken pies, starting with home-baked ones from Thrifty’s, to frozen no-chicken pies from Amy’s, to her current favourite, Costco chicken pies!

FIVE (5) Arts Grants

Teresa celebrating her five arts grants in this Top Ten Countdown

Teresa has earned two Canada Council travel grants, two DTES Small Arts Grants from the Vancouver Foundation, and one arts support grant from Spectrum Society. All this helped Teresa write and create two books, exhibit her art in three solo shows, participate in five group shows, show her videos at three film festivals (winning one silver award!), and travel to international exhibitions in Boston and Mexico.

FOUR (4) Vocations

The Top Ten Countdown wouldn't be complete without mentioning the four vocations Teresa has found: poet, self-advocate, artist and author.

Teresa has established herself as a poet, self-advocate, artist and author. The photos show Teresa speaking at the Carnegie Centre in DTES, marching for disability rights, holding up her artwork in her book Totally Amazing, and signing one of her books.

THREE (3) Amigos

photo of Teresa, Franke and Bill from Teresa's art show, Born to Represent.

Teresa, Franke, and Bill have lived together for ten years and have become great friends. “The Three Amigos,” as Teresa calls the trio. The photo is from her solo art show, Born to Represent, which was hosted by PLAN.

TWO (2) Sisters

Teresa and Franke hug in this photo taken at their home in Vancouver

Teresa and Franke have grown closer every day. And now their bond of sisterhood and love is ten years strong.

ONE (1) Champion with an Extra Chromosome

Teresa smiling confidently in this photo taken by Franke James at breakfast one morning

Teresa is very proud of the fact that she has Down syndrome and has become a strong advocate for disability rights. In fact, the Human Rights Commissioner of BC has named Teresa a “Champion for Change” for her advocacy work.

Happy Tenth Anniversary

Teresa and Franke celebrate their tenth anniversary together at the Top of Vancouver, the city's revolving restaurant, in December 2023. The dessert says Happy 10th Anniversary

Teresa and Franke celebrate their tenth anniversary together at the Top of Vancouver, the city’s revolving restaurant, in December 2023. Hooray!

What a countdown for a fun decade from 2014 to 2023!

Watch the Freeing Teresa Book Trailer: You’re Not Afraid

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The Freeing Teresa book trailer, “You’re not Afraid,” uses actors’ voices from the full-cast audiobook and mixes them with video footage from the day in 2013 when we rescued Teresa.

Voices from the Audiobook

Lead actor Jackie Blackmore (who plays Franke) said, “Reading Franke James’ story and listening to the actual audio recordings of the family discussions was a haunting and transformative experience. I was deeply maddened by the discrimination Teresa faced, but then inspired by Franke’s determination to defend her sister. The scariest thing is that this is a well-documented, true story. Franke was like an embedded journalist, recording everything as it happened.”

The dialogue in the book trailer is taken from Chapter 16, “They Can’t Send Her Back.” Franke (voiced by Jackie Blackmore) is on the phone with her older sister Siobhan (voiced by Paula Hoffmann). Franke is trying to convince her sister that the family should consider other housing alternatives for Teresa. Their conversation is bookended by excerpts from Teresa’s own poem, “Those Monsters.” Lauren Potter, who plays Teresa Heartchild, reads the poem. We also added a music soundtrack, “Call of Fate” by Alex Besss, highlighting the dramatic conflict between the sisters.

Video from the Actual Events

For the memoir’s trailer, we used the video footage from the actual day we helped Teresa get free. That was ten years ago! And as we were using an iPad, the videos are not crisp. They are low-resolution and jittery. It is a cinema verité record of what actually happened.

In the book trailer, we contrasted this historic footage with video clips of a female actor, talking on the phone. Shown only as a silhouette, her figure is a visual cue for Siobhan. The subtitles, which overlay the scene, are the actual text from the book.

Freeing Teresa Audiobook

Listen on Audible, Spotify and More

Head over to audible.com, where you can listen to the first five minutes of the book.

Get the Freeing Teresa audiobook on:

Freeing Teresa is a true story about disability, sisters, and standing up for the right to be yourself. It’s brought to life by a full cast of thirteen actors. Jackie Blackmore stars as Franke James and the lead narrator. Lauren Potter, who starred in the TV series Glee, plays Teresa Heartchild.

If you prefer print, the paperback and ebooks are available on Amazon, Bookstore.org, and most online bookstores.

A Gripping True Story Brought to Life in a Full-Cast Audiobook

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Freeing Teresa Audiobook Cover

The award-winning memoir Freeing Teresa is now a full-cast audiobook. Over a dozen actors bring Franke and Teresa’s riveting true story to life. They include Jackie Blackmore as Franke, and Lauren Potter—of GLEE television fame—as Teresa.

They are supported by Dayleigh Nelson, Cynthia Potvin, Bill Mackie, Paula Hoffmann, Rob Cottingham, Sidika Larbes, Geoff Sugiyama, Laurel Bailey, Divina Soriano-Leacock, Justin Smallbridge, and Roshni Kashyap. Two of the actors, Lauren Potter and Roshni Kashyap, have Down syndrome.

A heart-wrenching true story with a full cast

As a true story, Freeing Teresa is unique among full-cast audiobooks. Based on actual events, it’s a dramatic reenactment of the battle to protect Teresa’s freedom. It is also an intimate log of the personal journey that both Franke and Teresa went through. Pushing back against their family’s low expectations and battling against a “care system” that would take away Teresa’s freedom.

Each actor in the cast listened to audio recordings and/or watched Franke’s videos. She made them during dramatic, life-changing days. Everything was recorded. From threatening phones calls, to the rescue at the long-term care institution and the family showdown with the police. These recordings inspired the actors, giving the audiobook its emotional intensity and reality that makes for an unforgettable listening experience.

Story overview (listing the actors’ roles)

When an idealistic activist objects to her siblings’ plan to ship their disabled sister off to a nursing home, she’s forced to choose between family and her sister’s freedom.

Franke James (played by Jackie Blackmore) is an environmental activist who got into trouble in her own backyard—family trouble. She objected when she heard her siblings’ plan to put their disabled sister, Teresa Heartchild, into a nursing home. Teresa (played by Lauren Potter), who has Down syndrome, refused to go. She wanted to continue living with her father (played by Bill Mackie). But the other siblings (played by Cynthia Potvin, Paula Hoffmann, Rob Cottingham, and Sidika Larbes) insisted and secretly put Teresa into an institution for end-of-life care.

Teresa was in shock. Franke was horrified and organized a rescue. That’s when all hell broke loose. The two sisters had to stand together—against their siblings, the medical system, and the police (played by Geoff Sugiyama and Justin Smallbridge)—to defend Teresa’s right to be free.

This is a true story about a key civil rights issue for all people with disabilities—the right to decide where you live.

TRIGGER WARNING: This true story deals with complex, dysfunctional family relationships and ableist attitudes, which some listeners may find upsetting.

Get the Audiobook

Freeing Teresa is now available on Audible, Apple Books, Spotify, and many other audiobook distributors, including the public library.

Get the Freeing Teresa audiobook on:

Assume That I Can

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On March 21, 2024, World Down Syndrome Day, Coor Down, launched their worldwide campaign, Assume That I Can, with the support of six international Down Syndrome associations, including the Canadian Down Syndrome Society. The breakthrough video starring actor Madison Tevlin went viral.

“Our negative assumptions about people with Down syndrome can lead us to treat them in such a way that these assumptions become reality. In sociology, this is called a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’. Why not reverse our perspectives? If we have positive assumptions about people with Down syndrome, we’ll give them more opportunities in their schools, workplaces, relationships and activities. And maybe these positive assumptions will become reality.” YouTube Link

Teresa Heartchild, Assume That I Can video, March 21, 2024

Madison Tevlin inspired Teresa’s true life video!

Madison’s video inspired us to create a video for Teresa Heartchild for World Down Syndrome Day that told Teresa’s story and how she upended assumptions in her own life!

“Ten years ago, people assumed my sister’s life at 49 was over. Teresa Heartchild fought back. 25,000 people signed her petition. Her supporters sent a public letter to the Ontario Minister of Health. Finally, the government apologized,” says Franke James. “Now Teresa is free. But thousands of others are getting put into nursing homes showing that what happened to Teresa is not a rare event. She represents the tip of an iceberg.”

Although, the old institutions have closed, the sad reality is that today there are thousands of young people with disabilities who are forced to live in nursing homes. This is a key civil rights issue for all people with disabilities—the right to decide where you live. As the UN Special Rapporteur Catalina Devandas-Aguilar said, “The deprivation of liberty on the basis of disability is a human rights violation on a massive global scale.”

Read the award-winning book Freeing Teresa: A True Story about My Sister and Me by Franke James, with Billiam James and Teresa Heartchild. It tells how low expectations almost closed the door on Teresa’s future.

Freeing Teresa audiobook cover in orange

Freeing Teresa is also available as an audiobook narrated by Jackie Blackmore. The full-cast includes Lauren Potter, Dayleigh Nelson, Cynthia Potvin, Bill Mackie, Paula Hoffmann, Rob Cottingham, Sidika Larbes, Geoff Sugiyama, Laurel Bailey, Divina Soriano-Leacock, Justin Smallbridge, and Roshni Kashyap.


2024 Awards for Freeing Teresa


WINNER of 4 HUMAN RELATIONS INDIE BOOK AWARDS, 2024
Gold Award: Family Challenges
Gold Award: Special Needs (Disability Rights)
Silver Award: Leadership
Silver Award: Inspirational 

WINNER of 5 INTERNATIONAL FIREBIRD BOOK AWARDS 2024 (2nd quarter): Winner, Judge’s Pick
1st place, Social/Political Change
1st place, Special Needs (Disability Rights)
2nd place, Leadership

2nd place, Inspiration

#WDSD2024 #WorldDownSyndromeDay #EndTheStereotypes #assumethatican #FreeingTeresa

Teresa finds home

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Teresa is wowed by the new article about her in Community Living Magazine in the UK: “Teresa finds home.”

Read the full story at: Community Living Magazine.

Teresa finds home

Community Living

Community Living Magazine — Winter 2024

Excerpt: Written by Franke James

Choosing where to live is a basic human right. Teresa’s story is about how difficult this can be wherever you are, writes Franke James

It started with the question: “Where will Teresa live?”

We couldn’t agree on what was best for our disabled sister if she could no longer live in the family apartment in Toronto, Ontario, with our father.

Read the full story here: In 2013, an Ontario government social worker declared Teresa…

Labeled “Incapable,” Woman with Down Syndrome Proves Naysayers Wrong

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Teresa Heartchild celebrates at her art exhibition in 2018

Two sisters challenge system of “forced care” and stand up for the right to be free.

VANCOUVER, BC, Dec. 3, 2023 – Ten years ago, Teresa Heartchild was rescued from an involuntary placement in a Toronto nursing home by her sister, Franke James. 

Heartchild’s future had been written off when a social worker ticked a box in an assessment form, saying she was “not capable.” During the assessment, Heartchild, who has Down syndrome and an intellectual disability, objected to the incorrect health information used to describe her. But her words were ignored, and she was put into a nursing home.

Heartchild was trapped in a system that would not listen to her voice. 

“It was heartbreaking,” says James, an environmental activist. James challenged the placement and helped secure Heartchild’s discharge four days after she was admitted. However, another sibling opposed Heartchild’s release and called the police. So, the two sisters had to stand together against the police, the healthcare system, and their own family to defend Heartchild’s right to be free.

“Teresa was wrongly labelled ‘incapable’and
put in a nursing home. Most people don’t get out alive—
let alone become human rights champions.”

—FRANKE James

Franke James and Teresa Heartchild on the Terry Fox Run in 2012.
One year before, Teresa was put into the nursing home.

Forced care is a mechanism that helps society care for people who cannot care for themselves. It can be enacted through legal guardianships, police apprehensions, medical orders, or social worker’s assessments. But it can easily go wrong, adversely affecting everyone from pop stars to football players, from the elderly to the disabled. People with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to this type of health inequality. UN Special Rapporteur, Catalina Devandas-Aguilar, said in 2019, “The deprivation of liberty on the basis of disability is a human rights violation on a massive global scale.”

Teresa Heartchild with her book,
which tells how she lost—and regained—her freedom.

“I love my human rights,” Heartchild says, “Please don’t take them away just because I have Down syndrome.” The two sisters moved in together. Heartchild’s decision-making rights were restored and she won a public apology from the Ontario Minister of Health. The B.C. Human Rights Commissioner named Heartchild as a “Champion for Change.” 

Today, Heartchild and James are both thriving. Heartchild has already authored two poetry books. And, they are celebrating their tenth anniversary with the launch of a new memoir written by James: Freeing Teresa: A True Story about Fighting Ableism. It tells their harrowing but ultimately, redeeming story.

“It’s shocking to realize that ableism—prejudice against people with disabilities—almost held Teresa back from fulfilling her true potential,” James says. “We need to tell this story to bring about change.”

“It’s for all the people with disabilities,” Heartchild says.

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Book Title: Freeing Teresa: A True Story about My Sister and Me
Authors: Franke James (with Teresa Heartchild and Billiam James)
ISBN: 978-1999406103 (Paperback). Also in eBook and Hardcover
Publisher: The James Gang, Iconoclasts Inc

Note: Teresa Heartchild is a pen name which she is using since some of her family members do not want to be associated with this story.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities: #IDPwD #DisabilityRights #FreeingTeresa #DownSyndrome

The Book: FreeingTeresa.com
Teresa Heartchild: TeresaHeartchild.com
Franke James: FrankeJames.com

For interviews, contact: Franke James, franke@frankejames.com