Melissa’s Story: Helping Her to Help Others

By Barbara Cash

CareStar of Indiana, LLC has served Hoosier communities by helping those in need since 1993. In that time, our case management team has catered to all walks of life in many different capacities. Melissa Lambert is one of the people whom we have helped to grow and develop, and she is now working as an intern in our Indianapolis office. We are very proud of Melissa and the team that has helped her to accomplish her goals.  This is her story.

Melissa grew up in Columbus, Indiana: the architecture capital of Indiana. In 2007 Melissa decided to move to Indianapolis to be closer to her doctors and live a more independent life away from home. When she began living in “The Circle City,” the Carestar case management team worked with Melissa to receive self-directed care through public partnerships.

Through her new care system, Melissa was finally in control and living on her own schedule rather than working around the obligations of others to receive the care she needed. Her parents even assisted her in purchasing a home!  Shortly thereafter, Melissa’s boyfriend was permitted to become her primary caregiver and moved into her new home.

Melissa’s new home and liberated schedule allowed her to receive assistance from familiar people, which enabled her to have an occupation interviewing potential providers to ensure their personalities matched. She has even successfully trained her own service animal, “Jade,” who has given her the ability to venture into public more independently.

Today, Melissa is hard at work taking courses at Ivy Tech where she plans on graduating in the Spring of 2012. As a part of her education requirements, Melissa has begun work as a summer intern in the CareStar of Indiana offices. Melissa has a myriad of duties that include: research community activities and options for consumers, communicate with case management concerning guidelines directly from the waiver manual, review the role of case management and assimilate a PowerPoint that can be used in the community and observed by case managers during home visits. She is a busy person!

As if Melissa were not busy enough, she is also expecting the birth of her first child, a boy, in October of 2011.  Due to the assistance from the CareStar team and her case manager, Stephanie Grow, Melissa is able to experience a life which otherwise may not have been possible. We are very proud of her accomplishments and the accomplishments she will undoubtedly achieve in the future!

Do you know anyone who could use case management and caregiver support to experience a more fulfilling life? Please contact Barbara Cash at 866.423.2220 today to discuss!