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Caring for disabled adults

September 5, 2009 12:36 am

BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

Making matches is serious business for Tracy Mahone.

She asks more questions than eHar mony, uses more intuition than Chem istry.com and has a higher success rate than Match.com.

In fact, she has yet to make a bad match. Happy clients call in tears, thanking Mahone.

Her matches haven't taken any trips down the aisle.

A NEW OPTION

But that's the point. Mahone doesn't find soul mates for lovelorn singles.

She finds families for adults with disabilities.

The Rappahannock Area Community Service Board's sponsored placement program runs like foster care for adults with disabilities.

Advocates hail such programs as alternatives to institutions and group homes. The person with a disability lives in a natural environment: the family home.

As many disabled grow up, their aging parents become unable to care for them. Few options exist.

The RACSB opens about one group home each year, and each home typically houses six adults. The waiting list for such housing hovers at 150.

Some in their 20s live in area nursing homes designed for the elderly. Their families can't care for them, and there are no available age-appropriate places able to provide the level of care needed.

Sponsored placement won't bridge the gap for every adult with a disability. But it's slowly filling a need.

Currently, nine adults live in area "foster homes."

Eight more wait for just the right match.

Mahone labors over each one, asking many questions: What do you do in your spare time? Do you prefer quiet? What do you watch on TV?

She meets with every person living in the house--a step that often weeds out prospective providers.

The meetings help the most when it comes to making matches. Mahone gets a feel for the family, and uses that intuition when placing clients.

"It's important. The worst possible thing that could happen is to move someone in that house and you haven't made sure it's a good match," Mahone said. "Then, the only option is to move them back to the institution. Or they could become homeless."

MAKING A MATCH

And when she met Ron and Annette Wisniewski, Mahone knew almost instantly who would come to live with the Caroline County couple.

The empty nesters lead active lives. In addition to their regular jobs, Ron and Annette regularly volunteer, participate in church and raise sheep.

They've raised their own children, as well as many foster kids in 23 years. But recently, their Ruther Glen house had grown quiet.

The couple was getting older and Annette figured they couldn't handle another energetic foster child.

And then she read a newspaper story about adults with disabilities working at Famous Dave's in Massaponax.

And she knew that, somehow, she wanted to help.

She learned of the sponsored placement program and, coincidentally, one of the men featured in the story was looking for a family.

Levie Edmonds had lived in Fredericksburg since the mid-1980s. He has a mild intellectual disability and diabetes.

Edmonds has known loss: He grew up in a large family in Farmville, but came alone by bus to the Fredericksburg area when he was 17. He later married but was widowed early.

Since then, Edmonds has lived alone in his own apartment. He was lonely and often called his case manager at RACSB several times a day.

He also needed more support to monitor his diabetes and medications.

Mahone had been his case manager before she took on the sponsored placement program and thought Edmonds could blossom in a family setting.

"To me, it was just a no-brainer; what a great match," Mahone said.

TESTING THE WATERS

She set up a trial weekend where Edmonds would stay with the Wisniewskis. That weekend happened to coincide with Barack Obama's visit to the University of Mary Washington.

And there's nothing Edmonds loves more than meeting politicians. He calls legislators regularly, visits the state Capitol to lobby for funding for disability issues, and hangs pictures of himself with senators and representatives on his bedroom wall.

He called Annette before and said, "You know, Barack Obama's going to be here."

She got the hint and Edmonds and the Wisniewskis went to see the future president.

As they arrived, Edmonds' blood sugar started to drop. And the Wisniewskis got their first taste of his medical needs.

They decided they were up to the task. The Wisniewskis asked Edmonds to move in.

Edmonds pondered the decision carefully. After all, he got lonely and bored in his city apartment. But he also had complete independence.

He moved in, but kept some furniture in storage, just in case. Now, despite being a Redskins fan living in a Cowboy household, Edmonds has settled in.

BECOMING A FAMILY

The Wisniewskis had a birthday party for Edmonds on Aug. 16. Family and church friends crammed into the small home.

Most of the partygoers had first been friends of the Wisniewskis. But they came to love Edmonds, who now attends church with the couple and volunteers at monthly bingo games at a local nursing home.

He and Annette go to the gym twice each week to walk on the treadmills. Edmonds also helps with chores around the house and farm.

Between all the activity and Annette's healthy cooking, Edmonds has lost 19 pounds in the nine months he has lived with the family.

"In my apartment, I ate TV dinners," Edmond said. "Now, I eat three meals a day--breakfast, lunch and dinner--and, Annette, she sure can cook."

Edmonds is ready to get rid of the furniture in storage.

"I met Ron and Annette, and I go many places and I don't get bored anymore," Edmonds said. "They're very nice to me. They treat me like family. I am family to them, and I appreciate Ron and Annette opening their home to me."

Amy Flowers Umble: 540/735-1973
Email: aumble@freelancestar.com