Medicaid Supports Help Linda Live and Work in the Community
June 7, 2017
.jpg "Linda with friends")
Since July of 2003, I have been a friend and also legal representative for Linda, a woman with an intellectual disability whose parents have been deceased for many years. She previously had a State Guardian and I took on the role of initially of her limited guardian on a voluntary basis. When that order expired, I did not have it renewed but instead use supported decision making as a way to assist her in making decisions. I am now her Power of Attorney and also her Representative Payee.
Linda has worked during her adult life and qualifies to receive a Social Security Disabiltiy Insurance (SSDI) payment from her own work record. At 64, she still works. She receives community living supports, supported employment, day training, and case management from one of Kentucky's Home and Community Based Services Medicaid waiver programs.
Linda lives in her own apartment in a building owned by a local agency with eight apartments where the rent is subsidized through HUD. This enables people to live independently. Linda does not drive. Paid staff assist her with grocery shopping, doctors' appointments, banking, arranging for transportation to work, supports on her job, making arrangements to spend time with friends, volunteering as a greeter at a local church on Sunday mornings, and assistance in the event of an emergency. I oversee her finances, ensure her services are in place, and am also part of her family by choice. She also has several other women in her life who love her as a friend. However, without the paid supports from Medicaid, Linda could not remain in her own apartment, continue to work and be a contributing tax paying citizen.
Carolyn is a family member by choice of a person with disabilities. She works at the Human Development Institute (UCEDD) at the University of Kentucky.
