CHI - Friendship

Outcomes in Action PEOPLE INTERACT WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY By Eric Giles and Kim Mehlho, Eric's Mom My most memorable moment was when we came to Faith Lutheran Church eight years ago, and I felt the love and connection. Everyone made me feel so important. I live with a disability, tuberous sclerosis, that prevents me from speaking and sharing my thoughts. But they didn't mind when I would get excited and exclaim with what some call "noise." There, it was welcome joy. You see, I love church. I get very excited when I'm in the car and we're on our way to church. I laugh and even squeal. I love being in the community and being part of something. My mom reminds me that we are all the same. We all want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. There are two campuses of my church, and I'm just as important at both places. Everyone is so friendly, and (Ilove this part) my dad lets me get up and move about during music, make noise, and sing. I'm kind of shy, but I love it when the meet-and-greet happens at church, where people will say "hi" or give me a high ve. A table is reserved for us so I feel comfortable knowing where I am going to sit each week. Some would call that "making special accommodations." Icall it love. PEOPLE EXERCISE RIGHTS Every day we all exercise our basic human rights given to us as American citizens. No matter how we look at them, we are all aorded certain rights and have the responsibility to exercise them. However, there are times that a right may be temporarily restricted for health and/or safety reasons. Jessa has a passion of exercising her rights, so she has been working very hard this year to achieve one of her goals: reclaiming her rights. Though she has a few left to go, during the past year Jessa has had eight rights reinstated and two restrictions reduced. Among these achievements, Jessa has gained more access to her finances, reduced restrictions surrounding her diet, and increased the amount of time spent without needing staff. With encouragement from her family and Direct Support Professionals, Jessa has been able to try new approaches and has been successful in many areas of her life. She continues to work with those around her to get the rest of her rights reinstated, as her ultimate goal is to live independently in thefuture. PEOPLE CHOOSE WHERE AND WITH WHOM THEY LIVE In preparation for his annual meeting, David got together with his QDDP to talk about his Personal Outcome Measures and discuss how David's team could support him to fulll the outcomes that matter most to him. When talking about David's home (where he had spent most of the last 10 years), David told his QDDP that he wanted to move; he was ready for a change. She let him know about an opportunity that was currently available within CHI Friendship that would bring him closer to family. David was excited to go and check it out. David planned to visit the home for supper one evening. While there, David was given a tour of the home. David was all smiles and decided that evening that he loved it there and was ready to talk about moving as soon as possible! David let his family and team know of his plans and decided that he wanted to move in before Christmas. He worked on picking out paint for his new bedroom and choosing his bed, dresser, and other bedroom furniture. In the meantime, he visited with his soon-to-be housemates a couple more times at his what would become his new home. David's continued visits solidied his decision to move to a new home and new town, bringing him closer to family and opening doors to new possibilities. David moved into his new place on December 15. His rst day was spent moving his things and setting up his new room. Things are going great for David so far! He enjoys bidding his housemates adieu as they part ways for the day to go to work, and he is always cheerful when he is home for the evening! Jessa Eric David CHI FRIENDSHIP /// www.chifriendship.com 10

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