\u201cIt was his life. He got up every day and that\u2019s what he was doing, and looked so forward to going there,\u201d Stacey said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
![\"Devin](\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Devin--375x500.jpg\")
Devin Schmidt. Photo courtesy of the Schmidt Family.<\/p><\/div>\n
Duncan wrote an open letter to Community Living board members because many families contacted him looking for answers in regards to their loved ones.<\/p>\n
Duncan said families feel this move was in the works for quite some time, and it was a move not related to COVID-19.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s called this person-centered approach, it sounds great, but what it results in is basically a 98 per cent reduction in the hours of service these people get,\" Duncan said. \"It doesn\u2019t almost mater what the new approach will be if they\u2019re not getting the hours, how does this help them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Stacey said she questions Community Living\u2019s decision about moving to the person-centered approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like, do you even realize we live rural?\" she said. \"In an hour, if you came and picked him up, you can\u2019t even do anything by the time you drive him back home. We don\u2019t live in a town where you can go walk to anything. And the ideas they had to provide in this hour a week for Devin, was just so ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duncan said residents must remember the adult day program clients are adults in their 30s, 40s, and 50s with the primary care givers very often in their senior to more advanced senior years.<\/p>\n
Devin\u2019s father, Blaine Schmidt, said he was on the board that raised and self-supported the Community Living Erin facility.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo get the construction done, and to get it all built, and it\u2019s kind of frustrating when you\u2019ve put forth all that effort and then they basically shut the whole building down,\" Blaine said. \"No one\u2019s even using it right now, after we\u2019ve done all that work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fundraising efforts for the facility brought in a staggering $1 million and it was built and opened in two years.<\/p>\n
Blaine\u2019s partner Stacey wants to know why Community Living couldn't come up with a plan to return to service.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the schools are going back and day care is going back, with 15 minimum or maximum children per class, why couldn\u2019t we go back with, there was four of them?\" she said. \"We didn\u2019t understand why we couldn\u2019t try to work something out. It\u2019s a very spacious building and they could social distance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blaine added they would have their own bubble, just like they have in schools.<\/p>\n
Community Living agreed to do an interview, but CICW did not hear back from them at publication date.<\/p>\n
Stacey Katzman, Devin's mother:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n