Oakwood: Many call it home

By SUSAN WHEELDON, CJ Staff Writer
Commonwealth Journal

Somerset September 01, 2006 09:06 am

— It’s home for a lot of people. That is what many people have forgotten when they have heard so much bad about the Communities of Oakwood in recent days.
Though many of us can’t imagine a place like Oakwood being our home, that is exactly what it is for many people — not just a place they stay for a short time.
Some of residents at Oakwood haven’t just come there, they’ve been there for more than 20 years and it is truly their home, and where they visit is their parents home.
It’s not that their parents love them any less than a child that might live with them, but ultimately they have made the sacrifice to let their child have a better life and have the opportunities that we experience almost daily and take for granted. Those opportunities would include working, having friends and going to social activities.
I’m not sure everyone has sit back and thought about what it will do to those people who call Oakwood “home” if the Communities of Oakwood were to close.
I’m sure there are those residents who truly wouldn’t care where they are at, whether it be Oakwood, a group home or wherever they are placed.
However, there would be many others that care where they are placed.
I myself met and talked to a couple of people just like that when I visited Oakwood on Family Day just last month.
The first — Elizabeth Wells of Hazard — has been at Oakwood for 25 years.
“Elizabeth is totally satisfied ... home doesn’t compare to what she has here,” said Elizabeth’s mom Helen Well’s of Oakwood.
She went on to say that at Oakwood, Elizabeth does the things she desires to do on her own, however at home she isn’t able to do that.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s roommate Kristi has called Oakwood home for some 28 years, since she was 11 years old.
And though she goes home with family sometimes, they say her life is at Oakwood and sometimes when they take her home for a visit they are really interrupting her life.
“Now if you take her away, it would be like putting her in a closet,” said Dana Winkel, Kristi’s aunt. “She has a normal life here, she’s a cheerleader, has a job, has a boyfriend and goes to dances.”
They also told me that day about how it can affect Kristi when taken out of her element. They said that in 2002, when they took a much-anticipated trip to Florida (one that Kristi herself had asked to go on), Kristi was out of her element and would cough and try to make herself sick.
I don’t believe that at most group homes the residents can have the same life they have at Oakwood.
Will there be a pool like there is at Oakwood, so they do physical therapy if needed or other activities? Will there be a gym where they can play basketball?
And as far as jobs, I would think many of them can have those opportunities on the grounds of Oakwood, but out in the community how many of the residents would be hired?
I believe that at Oakwood many of the residents feel like their life is “normal” and they wouldn’t have that if they were in a group home.
Instead of leaving hundreds of residents with new placements, why not find a more fitting placement for those residents that have been involved in several citations? Yes, the employees are involved in the citations; however, if a resident has been involved in several such incidents, maybe Oakwood is not the place for them.
Both sides of the equation should be looked at when the state is examining the Oakwood situation.
Yes, one citation is too many; however, a few clients seem to cause a lot of havoc on an entity that is much larger.
I hope in the end those state officials who are making decisions about Oakwood will think about the individuals there that call it “home” and not just the raw numbers.
How would you like to have your home pulled out fromunder you?