It’s a testament to the fact that real lives are impacted when people with disabilities must stay home. ProAct families served in Shakopee gave updates on their loved ones.
Sarah Oxborough has attended ProAct for a year, where she works and goes on field trips, her mother, Jennifer explains. Her reaction to the COVID stay home way of life? “She’s been very quiet,” said her mother.
Jennifer Oxborough, who now works from home, has her daughter on a schedule to keep learning and maintain the job skills she normally uses. “This will help her keep earning money since she is usually getting a paycheck from ProAct,” she said. Sarah is also planting seeds for her spring garden. She misses her friends and ProAct staff.
A 14-year veteran of ProAct, Annie Vogel serves on a church cleaning crew and does similar work at Lifetime Fitness, which she loves, said Denise Moen, her mother.
After Denise leaves for her health care job each day, her retired husband now supervises Annie. They do many projects together and stay busy so she spends less time on her Kindle device.
“I am missing my job so mom and dad have me ‘practicing’ my cleaning skills for Lifetime Fitness and Fish Lake Church at home,” said Annie. “I’d rather be at work.”
Annie pays attention to the days of the week and hopes to return to ProAct. “But she understands that everything is closed because ‘people are sick.’ She misses her friends at ProAct, according to her mother.
Exercise at ProAct has been replaced with a stationary bike brought up from the basement. The family used to spend time in the community but things are closed now.
“Annie loves the ProAct staff,” said Denise. “We cannot wait until this is over with so we can get back to our regular routines.”
A third Shakopee participant, Tony Judd, has had his doctors appointments delayed. He is cared for by two guardians, Carole Murray and his mother, Selena Judd.
Tony normally attends ProAct part-time. He’s a track competitor in the Special Olympics, plays bocce ball and bowls on teams. All of this is on hold.
He misses his ProAct cooking class, and helps with meals at home. He also misses the staff and his fellow participants, his mother said.