Shelly's Long and Winding Road

Meet Shelly.  She arrived at Wendell Foster’s Campus (WFC) in 2010 after traveling a long and winding road in her 47-year-old life.  Born in neighboring Hancock County, doctors diagnosed Shelly with cerebral palsy at 6 months old.  Shelly reports that her mom treated her no different than she treated her brothers and sisters.  She was homeschooled for the first several years before getting her first wheelchair at the age of twelve.  Then, with some assistance, usually from other classmates, she went to school with kids her own age, graduating with her class. 

Shelly prides herself on being “like everyone else,” having been married and divorced.  After her divorce, she lived in several nursing facilities.  Shelly says she was “the youngest person there,” and there wasn’t anyone with whom she could relate to or socialize.  All facilities met her needs but offered Shelly few opportunities to get out and be an active member within her community.  Shelly didn’t get to go out and do things she enjoyed, which left her feeling unhappy, bored, and unfulfilled.

In time, she arrived at WFC, moving into the Supports forCommunity Living (SCL) housing, a perfect fit for this very bright and active woman.  Today, she lives an independent life, including working part-time at Hugh Sandefur Industries at its Owensboro location.  Because of the severity of her cerebral palsy, Shelly needs assistance with most of the everyday activities you and I take for granted – like getting in and out of bed, brushing teeth, getting dressed and undressed, and eating – which she receives from a Direct Support Professional (DSP); but once in her electric wheelchair, Shelly is on the go!  Like many of us, Shelly has activities and hobbies she enjoys, such as shopping, watching her favorite TV shows and going to community events.  She also runs household errands on her days off, and usually finds something fun to do in her spare time.

Yet, Shelly wanted more.  She looked for a way to contribute to her community and to Wendell Foster’s Campus, in addition to working three days a week.  She joined the WFC’s Residential Government that meets quarterly to give residents a voice about anything related to their Campus community, i.e. wheelchair crossing safety, activities, policies, etc.   She also joined WFC board’s Human Rights Committee that meets monthly.  She even spends her work lunch breaks helping at the front receptionist’s desk greeting Campus visitors.  Yet, none of these activities got Shelly off Campus or kept her actively involved.

Shelly would often ask if we in the Marketing & Development Department needed any help with any projects.  As I began planning the 2013 Spread the Word Campaign in the fall of 2012, I remembered Shelly’s offers and the wheels started turning on how to integrate Shelly into the No R Word program.

Before long, Shelly would soon be adding a new item to her personal resume:  Volunteer Campus Advocate.

In the Next Blog Entry:  The Female Dynamic Duo -  "To my pleasured surprise, Shelly excitedly latched onto the idea, and we agreed to get together after the first of the year and talk about what our “dog and pony show” would look like."

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Butch: The Caffeinator

Like coffee?  Well, if you work in Wendell Foster’s Campus (WFC) Administration building, you’d better!

Skylar’s vacation and Becky’s Holiday World adventure are just two of several mini-success stories happening on Campus after WFC and its staff experiences a paradigm shift of thinking around person-centered service.  Empowered, staff is asking person-centered questions of themselves and of each other on behalf of the individuals that we closely work with and serve on a daily basis.  We are encouraged to find ways to help them shift from a “service” life, which places focus on organizational services for them, to that of living more of a community life, which places the individual within the community doing what is important to them as an active participant and contributor.  We each have several communities:  work, social, religious/spiritual, ethnicity, familial, school, just to name a few; and if something happens to us, our community would miss us.  CEO Terry Brownson says WFC will have accomplished its goal; we will know that we achieved success in integrating those we serve into the community when members of our community notice one’s absence and reach out to express concern and inquiry.

Everyone in Owensboro knows Butch, the man always with a friendly “Hello, young man” or “Hello, young lady;” the man with a big smile, a loving and generous heart, and a carefree spirit. Everyone knows Butch because Butch knows no strangers.  Butch has been a part of the Wendell Foster’s legacy in some way, shape and form since he was a young child.  He attended school here when it was the “Spastics School and Home.”  As a young adult, he attended the day programs the Fosters offered, and in the last three years, he has called our Campus home. Butch loves WFC and the people who work here saying, “Wendell Foster’s been good to me.”  Butch keeps busy in his independent and very active life.  He goes to church at St. Joseph & Paul’s where he is hospitality minister.  He is a regular at the Elizabeth Munday Center.  Every day, Butch makes his rounds throughout the Campus, from the other Supports for Community Living house through the Centre Point Cottages, to say hello, spread good cheer, and keep in the know of what’s going on.    When in the Admin building, it wasn’t unusual for Butch to check on his “sweetheart” Lindsay and enjoy a cup of coffee too.

Last year, Butch wanted a cup of coffee in the Media Room in our Admin building but the pot was dry.  While it is unclear who initiated this process, a staff member came into the Media Room looking for coffee just as Butch was trying to figure out what to do about the empty coffee pot.  This chance moment initiated what would become a person-centered opportunity.  Rather than just make it for him, the staff member showed Butch how to do it himself: where the coffee pouches are stored; how much water to put in the pot; where to pour the water; and what button to push to get it started. Over a period of a few weeks, several different Admin staff members would walk Butch through the process until he had it down pat.  Butch enjoyed the sense of autonomy of making himself a cup of coffee.

Butch relished the new task so much so that he seized an opportunity to contribute to the Wendell Foster's community he loves so dearly:  keeping us amped up on caffeine!  He made it a part of his daily routine to come over in the morning to get the second pot going to make sure we always had coffee available.  Once a new pot is a-brewing, he goes around informing everyone, “I put on a pot of coffee for yall.”  Even those of us non-coffee drinkers are informed.  Butch says he makes sure we have coffee because we “are good people” and we “work hard.”  It isn’t unusual to see Butch early in the morning, around lunchtime, then again in the afternoon between 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. at which time he’d make the rounds to tell everyone “g’night yall.”

After the first of the year, whatever bug was making the rounds shortly after Christmas caught Butch and put him in bed for two weeks.  After a couple of days, Admin staff noticed the absence of Butch, but we were not alone.  Members from his local church, staff at the Munday Center, and other folks throughout our Campus noticed Butch’s absence!  Lindsay Overby, his caseworker, said her phone rang off the hook as people called checking on Butch and asking about his whereabouts. 

That is what it means to shift a person’s existence from a service life to that of a community life:  when someone or a group of people miss your valued presence.

Butch is now hereby titled “The Caffeinator” because not only does he keep our staff supplied with fresh hot coffee, but because he is always saying “I’ll be back” to check on the pot. 

Thank for the cuppa joe, Butch!

In the Next Blog Entry:  To Be Announced

We want to hear from you!  Please share your responses and comments by clicking below on “Comment” – you may post them anonymously or using your gmail.com profile name.

“The educated do not share a common body of information, but a common state of mind.” ~Mason Cooley
Please share our blog with others via Facebook, Twitter, or email! Follow our blog! Click on “Join our Site” below.

Blog content is copyrighted property of Wendell Foster’s Campus for Development Disabilities and Carolyn Smith Ferber and/or other blog authors). Content may be used, duplicated or reprinted only with the expressed authorization of the Wendell Foster’s Campus. Permission for use, duplication or reprints may be made to wfcampus.org@gmail.com.