 If you ever wonder why case management services are so important, just talk to Brenda Donaghy.
She's been caring for her 21-year-old niece Laura since 1997 when Laura's father died of cancer. At 12, Laura — who has severe intellectual disabilities — was so unruly the family could barely manage her. According to Brenda, Laura had attended a school for "the deaf and mentally retarded" where she had learned to demand attention by stamping her feet and yelling. "I couldn't even take her to the grocery store," says Brenda.
Now, Laura is a favorite at her local Walmart — an amazing number of customers recognize her and say hello, says Brenda — and she works an hour a day at Dunkin Donuts.
But despite her accomplishments, Laura still needs reminders to put on clean clothes, take a shower and brush her teeth — and 24-hour supervision to keep her safe. That was manageable when she was in school and receiving one-on-one support services before and after classes as part of the Washington County Children's Program.
Then suddenly, Laura was out of school — she graduated from Washington Academy East Machias in 2005 — and about to age out of the Children's Program as well, presenting Brenda and her husband Lance with what seemed like an insurmountable problem: who would take care of Laura every day, all day, while they were at work? Brenda couldn't afford to pay someone, to quit her job as the manager of an apartment complex for the elderly, or even to cut back her hours — and neither could Lance, a self-employed carpenter.
Shaken at the thought that Laura might have to leave her family and home to live in a residential facility for people with intellectual disabilities — something Brenda knew she could find funding for — she turned to OHI for help. There, OHI Case Manager Lindy Lynch studied the situation, determined what was needed to keep Laura with her family — and then put all the pieces together to make it happen.
Thanks to Lindy's hard work, Laura now attends Sunrise Opportunities, a day program for people with disabilities in Machias, where she "cooks" her own lunch in the microwave, learns about safety issues — strangers pose a real hazard for someone like Laura who is so innocent and trusting, says Brenda — plays games and enjoys interacting with others.
She gets on a bus every morning at 8 am and returns about 3:30, when she's met at home by brother Chris, an aunt, or Lance if he can arrange his schedule just right. Laura then works on a jigsaw puzzle and plays with the cat until Brenda gets home about an hour later. In addition to Sunrise, Lindy arranged for four hours of care a week — before or after Laura's day program — and some respite care throughout the year for Brenda and Lance.
"Without Lindy's help, we could never have managed to keep Laura with us — something we just knew we had to do," says Brenda. "Laura suffered severe separation anxiety when her father died, and we couldn't bear the thought of that happening to her again. Luckily for her — well, for all of us — OHI found the funding and the services we needed so we could stay together." |
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Support services
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