"Thank God for Sending Us the Staff at Dungarvin"
by: Rita Reina, sister

My name is Rita Reina.  I would like to tell you about my sister, Wylene P.  Wylene is the youngest of thirteen children, I am number twelve.  Our mom was 45 and dad was 55 years old when she was born.  When she was five days old, she began having problems.  My parents took her to several doctors before being told she as cerebral palsy.  This was in 1954.  Wylene can't talk and can only walk by holding on to something or someone.  My parents cared for her at home for as long as they could.  But due to health and financial reasons, they were told it would be best to place her in an institution.  Being a parent myself, I'm sure that was the hardest thing they ever had to do.  She was placed in Patlow, an institution in Jacksonville, Alabama.  My mom would be so happy on the trip over to visit with her but so very quiet on the way back home.  Her heart must have been breaking.  she was leaving her baby, the last of her children, in an institution.

Now, Wylene, thanks to Dungarvin in Birmingham, Alabama, has her dignity and her life back.  November of 2003, Wylene was placed in a residential home with two other ladies.  Dungarvin's staff encourages families to come and visit their relatives any time.  They tell you up front that this is the three ladies' home and we, as family, are welcome any time.  Wylene, for the first time, has her own room with her own furniture, her things and her own space.  The staff also makes sure these ladies get out into the community.  They are taken to restaurants, hair appointments and shopping if they like.  Wylene doesn't like to shop, she just likes to keep moving in her wheelchair while others shop.  They all attend a day program during the week.

This past year, Wylene has taken dancing lessons, been roller skating and gone on vacation.  I guess the thing I like best about the staff members is they don't look at Wylene and say, 'she can't do that'; they look and say, 'why can't she do that if she wants to?'.  And one way or another, they make it happen for her.

While writing this I have cried, not for Wylene, but for my mother.  I wish my mother could be here to go to the meetings and hear about all the things Wylene has done and the places she has been.  I know if she was here, that trip back home would not be a sad and quiet trip.  It would be laughing and talking about how good she looks and how happy she is.  The way my older sister Nellie and I do when we leave the meetings.  Thank God for sending us the staff at Dungarvin in Birmingham, Alabama!