I'm my Aunt Kim's niece Tricia - who will be admin of the fundraiser and making sure she gets the funds - the following message is from her oldest and very incredible daughter Dariene: " My mom is one of the most giving people you will ever meet — so much so that she'd give you the shirt off of her back. She's involved in her community. She supports local businesses first and foremost. She helps the disadvantaged create and care for personalized gardens to help feed their families at a fraction of the cost. She helps people make healthy and affordable meals from a tight budget. She's a local (exceptional) artist and will paint a kid's face just because it'll make them happy. Despite all she gives to her community, she is slipping through the cracks. A mom of four, one of whom is special needs.. my soul full of sunshine little sister, Devynn. Devynn suffered a stroke during the first trimester of my mom's pregnancy with her. As a result she is missing a 1/4 of her brain and has developed cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and she is autistic. Despite her prognosis at birth, she has overcome all obstacles with flying colours and has become an exceptional young lady. As far as she (and we) have come we still face our challenges. Devynn lacks reasoning and processing skills and frequently puts herself into dangerous situations. She has always been a flight risk. This is nothing new, however; this used to be much more manageable at a younger age. She is now 17, very vulnerable and is going to end up hurt. Running away has become much more common as my mom and our family face hardships. My mom left an abusive marriage with my step-dad about 3 years ago. He has relapsed into prior addictions and has left our family in shambles. Devynn has had an incredibly hard time processing this massive change and an even harder time coming to terms with Dad not being there. He not only sent Devynn for a spin but wrecked my mom financially as well. He took out CERB in her name, took out multiple lines of credit in her name, and spent Devynn's autism respite funding.. all without my mom knowing. She no longer qualifies for ODSP because of this, a service she relies on. Dealing with the stress of this and the stress involved with Devynn's care made my mom suffer from a heart attack last year. She is in congestive heart failure now and relies on the money from ODSP to help pay for her life-preserving medications and also for basic necessities (food, shelter, etc). This is all very overwhelming for Devynn which is why running away has become more common place. My mom has opened up every avenue she can to help care for Devynn. CHEO's urgent care team, CHEO's doctors who've followed Devynn since birth, Inspire SDG.. you name it, they're involved. Devynn is on the vulnerable person registry. We have a tracking app installed on her phone. We're waiting on referrals to the Royal Ottawa. We've had multiple interdisciplinary meetings with all involved workers, plus the Cornwall Police Service (CPS) and Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH). We have capacity papers in place. Despite all that we have done for her, she continues to slip through the cracks. Devynn most often runs to the hospital (out of comfort, she has spent a big part of her life in the hospital) and despite capacity paperwork (she cannot make her own medical decisions) and being on the vulnerable person registry, my mom is refused entry into the hospital EVERY time. My mom faces criminal charges for attempting to push through security the first time Devynn ran to the hospital, when she claimed she had been sexually assaulted by an individual. CCH will release Devynn at any hour of the night without so much as a courtesy call to her guardian. They have repeatedly administered medications that counteract with her own despite capacity paperwork saying NOT to administer medications without parental consent. Cornwall Police Service is not any better. Despite being listed as a vulnerable person and despite mental capacity paperwork, they take it upon themselves to deem her 'of sound mind' and 'safe' and will not return her to us after locating her and speaking with her. As I am writing this, Devynn has been missing for two days. CPS located her, spoke with her, left her where she is and won't disclose her location. It takes a great deal to share only some of our story but enough is enough. Something needs to be done or Devynn is going to end up hurt. I'm calling on our community to help raise funds for my mom to hire a lawyer to help her with her finances, criminal charge, and help her take action with CPS and CCH. "They say it takes a village to raise a child. I think it takes a child with autism... to raise the consciousness of a village." " Please get in touch if you'd rather e-transfer! Let's help out someone who ALWAYS shows up for everyone else.
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