Anyone who knows Christina St. Germaine knows she’s a giver. She works for the Department of Human Services at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, is president of AFSCME Local 1092 and serves a delegate to the Duluth Central Labor Body, board member to the NEALC and general board member of the state fed. 

As a delegate, she was one of the people who helped humanize the issue of Earned Sick and Safe Time in Duluth. She made a statement at a city council meeting in March 2018 during hearings on ESST. She told her story of having a miscarriage at age 19 when working while pregnant. Councilor Jay Fosle waved the issue away, saying it was her choice to become pregnant. People objected noisily, standing up for her in the gallery.

Now, the community has a chance to give back.

 Christina is getting the word out about her son, Brandon. He was born with a rare genetic disorder called diastrophic dysplasia, a type of dwarfism. She’s hoping to raise funds to purchase a qualifying used or new minivan to modify for him to drive.

“I grew up knowing that the union gave us everything we have, and that my parents made a living wage — they didn’t just have jobs,” Brandon said. “I’ve always known the value of unions representing workers and building your own level of power. Everything I have comes from the union, so it’s natural to ask for help with this, too.”

Christina said her doctor told her that Brandon’s dysplasia was one of the worst he had seen. Brandon has gone through more than a dozen surgeries and uses a powered wheelchair to get around, but needs more mobility to become truly independent.

“Brandon doesn’t want to depend on his dad and I to give him rides when it fits into our schedules,” Christina said. 

“People who get hand-me-down vehicles in high school or when they graduate, even that’s a barrier to entry for me to just jump in a car and go,” Brandon said. “A lot of people solve that problem when they’re 16 — I’m double that and still trying to make it work.”

Christina and Brandon toured Rollx Vans in Savage, where they modify vehicles for a variety of uses. She has since started a GoFundMe to help purchase a van for Brandon that could be adapted to fit his needs, such as with a powered ramp and adapted controls.

Brandon is a comedian — “I do standup, but I don’t stand up” — and is in the process of organizing benefits to help raise money for the van, ideally an event in October (stay tuned for updates). 

He’s done open-mic events at venues around the Twin Ports as well as Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis. “A lot of my comedy is about disability and struggling with it, the realness of it,” he said. “It gets dark, because disability is dark and life is dark — I go to the intense places and talk about dark things, and comedy is the best way to do that. If you can make people laugh, you can teach them something.”

The services available in Duluth — public transportation and private or nonprofit transportation — is spotty and doesn’t make it easy for people with disabilities to get where they want to go, when they want to go. “I’ve been organizing my schedule to attach to others’ work-life schedule,” Brandon said. A van could provide the independence many take for granted.

Christina acknowledges that the GoFundMe has an ambitious goal. But she and Brandon explained that buying a new van with built-in safety features would help available government grants (which can’t be used for vehicle purchases) go farther on other modifications. 

Brandon says if he were able to travel at will, he’d be doing comedy shows all over. “It goes to the core of the issue — some people have inherited wealth and some have inherited power structures, but for those who haven’t, the way to build those institutions is by working together.”