Friday, October 11, 2013

Students Learn to Adapt to Disabilities



Heartland Independent Living Center (HILC) 
representatives address Nike Elementary School class 
regarding Disability Awareness Education.  Pictured 
from left are HILC’s Laura Willhite, Mark Hulsey, 
Maggie Brooks, and Marcie Wallace with her guide 
dog Porter.      




Heartland Independent Living Center (HILC) recently introduced students at the Nike Elementary School in Catawissa to Marcie Wallace, her service dog Porter, and Mark Hulsey.  Wallace and Hulsey are individuals with disabilities, Marcie is blind and Mark is a paraplegic.  Both agree that their disability doesn’t make them invalids, just different from other people.  Both navigated the winding halls of Nike Elementary, Mark with his electric wheelchair, and Marcie with Porter, who acts as her eyes.  Both have learned to adapt to their disability in order to live independent lifestyles.



HILC is endeavoring to get an important message across to children.  Disabled individuals are not to be scorned or bullied, but respected for their ability to overcome whatever obstacles they may have.  “They 

have a heart, a brain, and feelings just like you and I do,” explains HILC’s Laura Willhite. “Their disability doesn’t make them any less of a person.” 


To increase awareness of people with disabilities, HILC has developed a Disability
As a demonstration of how one would function without the use of your right hand,
Nike Elementary School students try to unwrap a piece of 
candy with an oven mitt on one hand. Pictured from left 
are Malia Gall, Blake Gammill, Natalie Adams, MacKenzie 
Collins, Shelby Kelemen, and Dasia Smith.

Awareness Education program, which makes presentations to area school children. Research shows that understanding a disability can help a child identify and empathize with others, and help prevent bullying and harassment in schools. Disability awareness can also empower children with disabilities so they are more likely to finish school, find a job, 
and contribute to their community.

A Robertsville native, Mark attended 
grade school in Lonedell.  At St. Clair 
High School, he became a basketball celebrity lettering all four years at the 
varsity level.  Some years later, a fall resulted in a broken neck leaving him with partial paralysis.  Mark didn’t let that stop him.  He sought assistance from Vocational Rehabilitation and HILC and learned how to adapt his lifestyle to accommodate his disability.  Mark continued to pursue his ambitions graduating from East Central College and Missouri Baptist University.  With adaptive equipment, he is able to use his computer and telephone to communicate, and his electric wheelchair to get around.  He also drives his own van, equipped with adaptive operating controls. Mark currently sits as President of the Board of Heartland Independent Living Center.


Heartland Independent Living Center representatives Mark Hulsey and
Marcie Wallace, along with her guide dog Porter, talk with Nike Elementary 
School students about disability awareness.Pictured from left are Guidance 
Counselor Melinda Maylee, Julia Thomas, Principal Lisa Weirich, Dalton 
Roth, Trevor Hill, and Tristin Herrin.

Although blind since birth, Marcie is also no couch potato. A graduate of the Missouri School for the Blind in St. Louis, Marcie continued her education at St. Louis College of Business and Vanderschmitt School of Business in St. Louis. Her loyal companion and service dog, Porter, guides her through daily living activities.  Marcie and Porter come to work daily at HILC where, along with other office duties, she translates written materials into Braille.  When asked if there’s anything that she can’t do, Marcie replies, “It’s a nuisance not to be able to drive a car, but I don’t let that stand in the way of my life’s goals.”

Friday, October 4, 2013

Home is Where the Heart Is



After 14 months of rehab in a nursing home following amputation of her left leg, 74-year old Pat Thomas is back in her own home.  Thomas was born, raised, and has lived most of her life in the circa 1823 family farmhouse in Bland and is not about to leave now.  “This is my home,” says Thomas, “and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

While recuperating from surgery and rehabilitation at the nursing home, Thomas began making plans to return to her home.  She was not willing to let her physical predicament strip her of her independence.   After all, her 12-year old dog Jack was waiting for her return. 
One of the requirements for Thomas to return home was wheelchair access.  She needed a ramp to navigate her wheelchair to the front door.  Keeping up with the local news, Thomas spotted a newspaper article in which Legends Bank had donated funds to Heartland Independent Living Center to support its Home Modification program.  Inspired by the story, Thomas contacted Heartland and the road home began.
Thomas returned home in January 2013 with a 16-foot ramp ready and waiting.  Also waiting was Janet Ocheskey, a Registered Nurse from HILC In-Home Care, who visits Thomas weekly.  Under Heartland’s In-Home Care program, Thomas also receives weekly visits from an aide who helps with activities of daily living.
The next hurdle Thomas faced was access to her bathroom.  Again, Heartland came to the rescue with a shower seat, grab bars, accessible toilet stool, and door threshold making Thomas’ bathroom fully accessible to her needs.
Thomas’ final step to independence was the Guardian Alert communications device that Heartland provided her.  “It’s a matter of security for me,” says Thomas.  “I wear it around my neck every night when going to bed.  I’d hate to get up in the middle of the night and blunder around and fall and break a bone.”  Thomas says she wears the Guardian Alert in the daytime also when she is home alone.  “But I’m seldom alone as family, friends and neighbors are constantly visiting and checking on me,” continues Thomas.  “Everyone has been so helpful and considerate since I’ve returned home.”

When Thomas returned home in January, her HILC In-Home Care Aide visited 5 days a week to assist with daily living chores.  Thomas is now doing so well she elected to cut her aide’s visits to one day a week.  Thomas boasts that she even went grocery shopping recently.  “I called ahead to Mace’s grocery store and an employee met me at the car.  She took my grocery list, filled it, loaded it into the car and I was off.”  
HILC In-Home Care’s RN continues to make weekly visits to ensure that Thomas remains in good health.  “With my diabetes, I feel much more confident knowing a medical professional is monitoring my condition,” explains Thomas.  “I can’t say enough about the people at Heartland.  They have helped me tremendously and I would not have been able to maintain my independence and live at home without their help.”
“With sheer determination, Ms. Thomas has been able to stay in her own home,” states HILC RN Ocheskey.  “She has adapted her living skills since the amputation, and compensated for things she can no longer do.  I could only hope to be as independent as Ms. Thomas when I’m 74.”