Citizens are planting Save Michener Centre signs in their yards this spring.
“We’ve got 1,000 signs going out. I’m estimating 300 to 400 are out there already,” said Jason Heistad, vice-president with Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, on Wednesday.
Friends of Michener Centre and Alberta Union of Provincial Employees are calling on the province to cancel its plan to close the long-standing facility for the developmentally disabled.
The province announced in March that 125 residents will be relocated starting in September.
Fifty of them who are medically fragile are to be moved to seniors care facilities.
Another 105 residents who already live in Michener Hill group homes will be allowed to stay.
People signed up for signs when they attended rallies denouncing the closure.
They can also go to the Friends of Michener Facebook page or the AUPE website for information.
Heistad said the majority of signs are being erected in Red Deer, but they can also be seen in communities around Central Alberta.
The signs are one of the ways those who support the centre are trying to send a message to government.
Almost 11,000 signatures have also been collected on petitions to keep Michener Centre open.
“For us to have 11,000 signatures already in eight weeks, it’s incredible.”
He said it’s more than some of the votes politicians get in a municipal or provincial election.
“We want to hit 20,000 (signatures) by the end of summer and I think we can do it.
“The campaign is going strong. Our goal is to hit all the farmer’s markets in Central Alberta. We’re going to be at Westerner Days.”
More than 3,700 letters have been sent to Premier Alison Redford, Associate Minister of Services for People with Developmental Disabilities Frank Oberle, Red Deer North MLA Mary Anne Jablonski, Red Deer South MLA Cal Dallas, Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith, Liberal Leader Raj Sherman and NDP Leader Brian Mason urging the government to keep Michener open.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com