Dear Editor:
I have been involved with special needs individuals for over 25 years as a volunteer for The Special Friends Club.
This program takes place at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Hillsburgh. They meet on Saturdays from September to June and for seven weeks of summer day camp in July and August. This enables the families to have full days of respite. For the past 25 years the participants have created their very own “friendship circle” and they love the chance to gather as a group in a communal space.
It distresses me greatly to read about the closure of the ARC programs. How can 30 hours of program support be boiled down to a one or two hour visit once a week in the home by an ARC staff? This is devastating for the participants and their families. Individuals living in the rural areas will not even have enough time to be driven to a larger centre to take part in any kind of special activity.
People like the ARC participants need to be able to gather and to grow real friendships that can only truly occur face to face. To think that they will thrive on one or two hours of individually supported interaction is a falsehood.
Having volunteered at the ARC program in Erin for many years I have witnessed the pure joy when the full group is involved in such activities as birthday parties, Christmas sing-a-longs and wheelchair bicycle outings to name a few. These events will not be able to be duplicated in private homes.
This is a life-changing decision for all of the participants’ families. I would hope that they were consulted as to what was most important to their lives, their needs and their wellbeing.
Chricket Yule,
Hillsburgh