Lives Have Changed Because of Oak Hill
Jeff has intellectual disabilities and Prader-Willi Syndrome (a genetic disorder caused by the deletion of part of the fifteenth chromosome and manifests itself in extreme behavior and eating disorders). Jeff is a young man who is talkative, friendly, well-traveled and well-dressed. He loves the theater, goes to church regularly and enjoys participating in fundraising walk-a-thons. Yet, Jeff is set apart from much of society because of his condition.
“When Jeff came to Oak Hill, he was about seventy pounds overweight and unhappy," says, June Smith, Oak Hill Residential Services. “Today, he is at his goal weight, is very social, a lot of fun, and unfortunately for me sometimes, very clever! He’s always on me to be thinking in ten different directions at once. Jeff is able to control his impulses and enjoys his position as a mail clerk.”
Ray is a young man with Wolf-Hirschhorn Disease, a syndrome in which part of chromosome number four is missing and in which the person bears several congenital anomalies and experiences severely delayed mental and physical development. Because of the slow growth, progress is measured in small increments and each accomplishment is a major triumph. Ray took his first independent steps at age thirteen and today, he is an energetic cyclist, climbing aboard his adapted bike and wheeling enthusiastically around his group home. He is an avid basketball fan, and despite the fact that he cannot speak, he is a flirt, easily moving among staff and friends, flashing an irresistible smile.
“Everyone loves him,” says Beth Wiblyi, group home manager, Oak Hill Residential Services. “He is so agreeable and loving and he is responsive too. He enjoys just about everything we do here and he is one reason that it really feels like family.”
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