Community Living clients face unique challenges

By Mark Ribble

ESSEX — As so many local residents experience unprecedented challenges in their daily life, so do some of the more vulnerable of our community.

Community Living Essex County (CLEC) provides services and supports for over 700 clients across Essex County and the organization has had some big adjustments with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Devon Hyatt-Grabb is a 42-year-old client of CLEC who lives in a group home in Leamington with three other adult males.

Devon has had to adjust his life quite a bit during the virus crisis.

“I can only see my mom through the window,” he says.

Devon, his mother Heather, along with CLEC’s Manager of Community Living Supports Jonathan Nantais and staff worker Lana Kappi, all met on Zoom last week to talk about the challenges during the pandemic.

Heather had nothing but praise for the organization.

“They are a wonderful team,” she said. “They keep me up to date regularly and are extremely understanding.”

For Devon, he finds it sad that he can’t visit his mom or brother, but staff did arrange for him to have coffee and a video chat with Heather recently.

On Mother’s Day, Lana took each of the four members of the household around to drop flowers for their mothers.

According to Nantais, staff has been instrumental in being creative and making life as normal as can be for their clients during this time.

“Lana has energy like no other,” he says.

For Lana Kappi, she said it’s about teamwork.

“We’ve had to come up with ideas like a walking track in the yard, and theme weeks like Cinco De Mayo and Under the Sea,” she said.

They’ve also had a couple of Elvis concerts put on by Devon himself, who is a huge Elvis fan. They’ve been keeping busy with music therapy and Devon also video chats with his friend Andrew.

DEVON HYATT-GRABB

Heather is happy her son is being well cared for, but sad that it has gone on this long.

“It’s very sad and I hope things will go back to normal soon,” she said. “I can hear it in Devon’s voice.”

For Devon, he’s anxious to get back out and socialize like he used to not so long ago. He says the first thing he will do is “Go to the movies, have popcorn and a treat.”

For Nantais, he’s grateful that the team has been able to pull together.

“We have a very dedicated team of workers,” he said.

Meanwhile, 24-year-old Amber Reekie is keeping busy in her own apartment in Leamington.

While her outdoor activities have been curtailed, she’s taking this time to catch up on some reading, organize her closets and trying out some yoga.

“I miss being able to be outside with nature,” she said.

Community Living Essex County supplies Amber with two staff, Shannon Thibodeau and Stephanie Dyck.

“We’ve tried very hard to fill the time,” said Shannon. “Some days can get really long.”

For Amber, her outgoing nature normally gives her the opportunity to belong to several organizations.

She helps with Meals on Wheels and is looking forward to getting back to that. She’s taken to writing letters to her Meals on Wheels clients in leiu of delivering to them.

She’s also looking forward to hugging her mom. Thankfully, she’s able to talk with her family through telephone, text and video chats.

AMBER REEKIE

One project they’ve taken on is to repurpose a couple of old sweaters into pillows. With the help of her staff, Amber has immersed herself in lots of crafts and activites.

The first thing she wants to do is “go outside.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly presented obstacles for many people who already face many challenges, but having Community Living Essex County and their staff to help out, makes things a lot easier on those people who need it the most.