Florida Letters for First Lady Casey DeSantis

Dear First Lady Casey DeSantis,
It is hard to put into so few words what a wonderful person Patrick “Quinn” Hofmann was.
Quinn had one brother and three sisters. Quinn was a protector, the fixer, and the kindest
soul you could ever meet! He loved life, his family, and he wasn’t prepared to die at age
38. Quinn was an Army Iraqi War Veteran, who served his country with honor for 9 years.
He loved the military life and the camaraderie that came along with it. Due to an injury
while in Iraq, Quinn was offered a medical discharge. He was convinced this was the best
for him. When he left the Army and began transitioning back into the civilian world, he lost
the camaraderie he once had with his military family. He began a complicated and difficult
journey to find that same sense of belonging; he wanted that unbreakable bond. Instead of
friendship, time after time he fell in with the wrong crowd and relationships. Quinn had
injured his back during his time in service and his injuries were considered inoperable and
would worsen with time. He was prescribed a narcotic pain medication to help with his
pain. A few years into the medication making his pain tolerable, stricter prescription laws
were passed. The VA could no longer prescribe the medication he had become so
dependent on using. He tried to deal with the pain, but he ended up turning to the streets
to buy these street pills. With the back injury coupled with PTSD, he did not know how to
function without a way of numbing himself. These drugs gave him the ability to exist in his
own world without the stress, pain, and anxiety he felt without them. There were many
sleepless nights for our family during his active addiction. We knew that he loved us, that
he didn’t want to die -- but we also knew his addiction was more powerful than anything
we were capable of fighting on our own.
After an arrest for some stolen goods, I was able to get him into a court in this area called
“VA Court”. This court was established to get veterans back on track. Eventually, as
Quinn’s mother I pleaded with the VA Court to place Quinn into a residential rehab and
work towards a recovery rather than just punishment time and time again. Luckily the
judge agreed, and Quinn was placed in a 17-month residential program to get him into
recovery called Pathways for Change. This was the miracle we were ALL waiting for!
Now, let’s fast forward. Quinn was clean for nearly 3 years after completing his program.
He was healthy, he was clean, and his life was heading in the direction he always wanted
it to. Everything was finally falling into place for him, and we were all so proud of him!
There were bumps in the road, yes – because Quinn was still the fixer. In September
2022, tragedy struck our family, and we lost Quinn’s brother to suicide. It was unexpected
and Quinn took it very hard. He was seeing a girl who we later discovered was an addict.
She saw this loss to get what she wanted. Just months before he died, we will never forget
the day he closed on his own home; he was just so proud of himself and his
accomplishment of his very own home! There were FaceTime’s with tours, lots of calls,