May 30, 2014

by: Blackbird

Dale’s Story of Making Transitions

Continuing our month about transitions, Eula Ott, UCP of Greater Cleveland’s Group Home Program Manager, wrote a piece about Dale, one of our Edendale Home residents. Dale has recently undergone many personal transitions and we wanted to share his story.

Dale is a sixty-five year old gentleman who recently celebrated forty-five years of services with UCP of Greater Cleveland.

Out of the all the years we’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dale, he has spent the last forty-five years in UCP’s Organizational Workshop and twenty-five years living with friends at his UCP Residential Home. Before that, he had resided with his mother in a Parma nursing home until her death.

In the past, Dale had little social life to speak of. However, that has changed significantly. He now attends more outings and verbalizes his desire to attend special events such as dining out and attending parties.

Some of Dale’s most noted interests while at home include karaoke, playing the harmonica, listening to music and playing board games. He also enjoys watching The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Country Westerns and the news. While Dale has adjusted well to sharing space with others, he does not like to be interrupted by commercials and loud conversations.

Dale has expressed his pleasure with services at UCP, but was happy to retire from the Organizational Workshop eight months ago. He now attends a Seniors Program in Euclid and states very clearly how much he loves being there. He has shown significant growth in his commitment to attending every day.

Before this transition to a Seniors Program, Dale would often mention his plans to retire. Since doing so, he remains noticeably happy but you mustn’t make the mistake of calling the Seniors Program “work.”

Dale is more expressive about new cooking ideas and outing opportunities since his retirement. In general, he laughs more and is a bit more cooperative. It is astonishing to see how quickly Dale adjusted to the new environment. He and his UCP team members agree that his choice to move to a Seniors Program was a very good decision.

From all reports, this transition has been good for him and we continue to be happy for him as he moves forward enjoying this newly found life of leisure.

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