Community Connections: Why It All Began

First, I would like to formally introduce myself. My name is Bobbi Crockett. I live with my husband and two sons in Mathews, Virginia. Originally, I come from Bowie, Maryland which is a suburban city on between Washington D.C and Annapolis, Maryland. My interest in assisting individuals in need came at an early age. My first exposure to working with people with any type of disability came at the ripe old age of 12. My Girl Scout troop regularly visited a nearby institution that housed children with physical and mental disabilities. The physical surroundings were bleak at best and the staff were less than enthusiastic in the performance of their job duties. I remember wondering what could I do to make things better. My answer came about a year later when I found an opportunity to participate in a volunteer program through our local YMCA that involved working with children with disabilities through a summer camp program. The volunteer work as a camp counselor continued until I was old enough to work as a paid camp counselor. During that same time period, I heard about a "crisis hotline" that was being formed in my area. I was interviewed and received extensive training in crisis intervention, substance abuse, mental health issues, human sexuality as well as other subjects that impact society. I volunteered about 20 hours per week in addition to attending school. My interest in serving others provided me with the opportunity to assume a leadership role and I was elected "President" of Bowie Hotline and served in that position for two years. As President, I was responsible for  scheduling and training volunteers, collecting and reporting data in addition to my regular volunteer duties. For my efforts I was awarde the "Volunteer Activist Award for the Washington D.C area in 1976 and 1977. During these years, I also provided face to face peer counseling to juvinile offenders called M.E.N.D. (Minors Engineering New Directions). My work experience as an adult includes work as a Production Manager at a Sheltered Workshop for individuals with intellectual disabilities, Certified Employment Specialist for individuals with disabilties, VIEW Worker for a Department of Social Servces in the Food Stamp, TANF, and Medicaid Program, Case Manger for the Middle Peninsula-Northern Neck CSB, Administrator of two group homes and a day support program for individuals with mental disabilities and last but not least work in a local hospital where I provided support services to physicians and other medical staff in the Emergency Room, Medical Surgical Unit, ICU and Administration. In March of 2010 I became a Medicaid provider under the "Elderly Case Management" program as well as "Elderly and Disabled with Consumer Directed Services". Both of these programs normally require providers to be a Registered Nurse, but those requirements were waived due to my years of experience. Personally, I have experienced the challenges of trying to assist an aging parent that has serious health concerns (Parkinsons and Congestive Heart Failure) and continues to live in Maryland while I live in on the Middle Peninsula of Virginia. My two brothers currently live with my mother however one brother works full-time and the other has serious mental health issues. Until recently this arrangement has worked well as the brother with mental health issues has been able to assist my mother with her personal care, shopping, cooking and taking her to her medical appointments. Now, as his mental and physical health declines, I have been faced with the task of trying to oversee her care from many miles away. These challenges have caused me to become even more passionate about the positive impact that community based case mangement services. Case Mangement, in a nutshell can be compared to the hub of a wheel. The case manager is the hub and the other services that the individual is receiving are the spokes. It is the function of a case manger to provide: linking to services, monitoring of services, coordination of services and last but not least, advocacy. Case management services not only benefit the individual directly, but also help to alleviate the stress of the family who are trying to care for the individual. If you are reading this blog, have a family of your own and also have aging parents; chances are that you too have felt the stress of being a member in good standing of the aformentioned "Sandwich Generation". My goal is to ensure that your parent(s) receive excellent care, remain in their own home (if that is where they choose to live), and decrease the liklihood of caregiver burnout. In future entries, I will be including helpful information  that pertains to coping with the stressors of caring for aging parents. If there is a particular subject that you would like information on, please feel free to contact me directly. I can be reached at communityconnecitonsva@gmail.com Sincerely, Bobbi Crockett