It was a very long two and a half months for ADEC’s staff and non-residential clients to not be together. On Monday, a significant step forward in the return to normalcy occurred as waiver clients returned to the day centers. ADEC’s community outreach staff split up covering everything from Middlebury to Mishawaka and found a link between every stop along the way – happiness. Friends reunited and, aside from some new safety measures, it seemed just like not-so-old times.

There is still much to be added to yesterday’s happy scene. Camp Wy.Not will begin on June 8th as scheduled. Non-waiver clients will return to day centers on July 6th. The new activity hub is aiming for a July 6th opening. Employee orientation for ADEC Industries’ competitive integrated employment shop began yesterday. The Bristol Gaining Grounds Coffee House is shooting for July 6th for a public reopening as well.

A variety of both internal and external community-based activities will be reintroduced as they are deemed safe because all of this is of course subject to change based upon the status of the pandemic. For example, hopefully soon clients will be back to using an actual bowling alley instead of just the Wii version of bowling they competed on yesterday in Middlebury.

A lot of wheels are in motion around ADEC. The first component of that reopening plan has been completed. The end result? An abundance of smiles.