Klinton's Story

The Keenans have a big house.

“I think it’s 2,860 [sq. feet] or something, finished, up and down,” Tim says. “At the time, when we moved into this place, I made it into a five bedroom house.” 

From the beginning, their plan was to share what they had. “When we bought this house, the vision was that we were going to have foster kids,” Robin says, “but then we both got into the work we’re doing now.”

Tim and Robin both work for REDI, Tim as the Maintenance Coordinator and Robin as a Job Developer with REDIworks. About two years into their positions, they heard about Klinton’s situation. 

The home proprietor Klinton was living with was going through severe health issues and couldn’t support him anymore. He needed a new place to live. He and his parents contacted all the home proprietorship programs in Medicine Hat, to see what they could find. Adele, the coordinator for REDIconnects’ home proprietorship and respite program, started asking people if they were interested in inviting Klinton into their homes. That’s when the Keenans decided to step up.

“There was a need,” Tim says. “[We had] three bedrooms downstairs that were empty, collecting dust, so we thought we’d give it a try.”

“It was kind of cool,” Robin says. “It was just going to be the two of us here. All the kids had moved out. It just turned out to be a really good thing for everybody.”

Adele helped set them up. “All support home providers and respite providers are contracted through REDI,” she says. “I write up and renew their contracts. They have to meet some health and safety requirements, so I do site inspections. And I do home visits every month to make sure that everything’s working alright.” 

Klinton’s transition into Tim and Robin’s home went pretty smoothly. “He knew both Robin and Tim through REDI,” his mother, Sylvia, says. “He was going through a stressful time [at first], but they brought him through it.”

Adele also feels confident about Tim and Robin. “They’re pretty self-sufficient because they know the drill, [that] we’re always working on building that independence, developing skills, so that clients are as independent as possible,” she says. “Robin [also] knows how to do all the paperwork, so she’s pretty independent that way.”

Klinton doesn’t spend all his time with the Keenans. For a few weekends a month, he visits his parents on their farm. But Sylvia says she has no trouble getting him back to Tim and Robin’s. “He likes it there, from what I can gather,” she says. “They’re really good to him.”

He also spends one weekend a month with Meagan and Braden Kappel, for respite. “The respite and the support home kind of go together,” Adele says. “When we start a support home, they might come with respite funding for that support home proprietor, to give that caregiver a break.” 

Klinton enjoys spending time with the Kappels. He already knew Meagan because she works as an Outreach support worker for REDI, but she says he actually prefers Braden’s company. “Klinton and my husband are actually very similar with a lot of their interests and hobbies,” she says. “They both come from farming backgrounds, so that started their bond. They watch a lot of videos on YouTube of people fixing cars, racing them, and rebuilding them. Basically, as soon as Braden comes home, Klinton is done with me - he wants to go hang out with Braden. And the feeling is mutual because a lot of the stuff that Braden does, I think is really boring. So Braden is excited to have someone around who thinks it’s cool.”

Klinton thinks spending time with Braden is cool, too. “I like helping him out with his truck,” he says.

Robin elaborates. “He helped Braden run new lines in his truck last time he was there,” she says. “That was awesome.”

Meagan and Braden work hard to make sure Klinton feels at home with RediLives with them. “My intention was to make that transition as seamless as possible,” Meagan says. “Change is something that Klinton does struggle with, and change is impossible to avoid, but if I’m prepared enough, I can make his transition as easy as it can be. That’s what I want to do as a respite provider.”

As Klinton’s circle of support grows, he grows, too. “He’s become more independent and more outgoing,” Sylvia says. “He’s come along in leaps and bounds and that’s just great with me. Robin keeps me in contact about what’s going on. They seem to be in it for the long haul. ”

Robin sees it the same way. “I talk to her a lot,” she says. “It’s good. It’s just kind of an extended family. We all work together. We have a pretty good time.”

“Yeah, we do,” Klinton agrees.