Launch
Connections Collective Launch
Ever since I can remember, my mom has managed a team of unpaid caregivers (family members) and paid caregivers. My brother Joey is non-verbal, has profound autism and epilepsy. He requires around the clock support to help with daily living skills, medication management and most importantly someone to help keep Joey active & entertained.
In Illinois, when someone like my brother turns 22 they age-out of state provided services through the public school systems. After high school, there is a program called “transition” which is supposed to prepare people like Joey for “the real world”. This service provides vocation training/job coaching with the goal of obtaining a job offer by the time they turn 22. Unfortunately, the reality for most individuals like Joey, is they turn 22 and they age out of services on their birthday and learn they and their family are on their own.
There are extremely limited private programming options and even less public options available. When you do find a program, there are rigorous assessments and interviews. In Joey’s case, he still requires 1:1 personal support, which isn’t something these programs are set up to offer. So, Joey has not “qualified” for any program yet that is intended to provide personal support because he requires too much personal support.
So what does this mean?
My parents are responsible for hiring, training and employing full time support who either live with Joey in their house or in a home they provide. These support workers/caregivers provide around the clock aid to support Joey. Including his medical needs, personal needs, support him with daily living skills and help fill Joey’s day with some sort of activity at home or outings within the community. Outside of an hour here or there when enrolled in ‘activities’, Joey’s time is filled at home or going on long walks at the Botanic Gardens or the mall. No one deserves to be stuck at home or wandering around town indefinitely. Joey deserves to be a participating member of our community and larger society. Everyone like Joey deserves that.
There is a ton of pressure mentally, physically and financially put on parents of children with special needs from childhood through adulthood. For their child, their focus on making sure their child has the best quality care available to them to succeed as they get older, fortunately services are available through the state, private insurance and schools. As children transition into adulthood, the opportunities and services available dwindle into very little to none. Every family’s circumstances vary but most agree that there is a huge gap in care and services for the aging developmentally disabled community. What options do they have? At best a 5-20 year waitlist for a private facility?
Last month my brother’s caregiver was accused of treating my brother inappropriately and caught by the police. The caregiver who was vetted via a background check through the state and previous certified professional at a local hospital. Great candidate on paper. When a neighbor spotted my brother being pulled by his hair by another adult, they called the police who did an incredible job intervening and supporting my mom to terminate the live-in caregiver. Fortunately, this was handled well but unfortunately that left my mom and brother in the realm of unknown. Who would care for Joey tomorrow? Starting the cycle of recruiting, hiring and training a new set of caregivers again.
So what can I do?
After years of trying to solve for all of these problems, I’ve come to the realization that alone - I can’t do much. I can however, bring awareness and attention to the fact that WE as a community can do something. We can actually do a lot.
Enter - Connections Collective
Connections Collective is a hybrid supported employment program that connects individuals like Joey with a team of expert employment supports together with local business owners. We build individualized and unique supported employment programs for small groups of individuals who in turn support the local business community.
Together we can individualize programming to accommodate as many individuals as possible. We work with local businesses to implement supported employment programs that aim to provide operational improvements where possible.
As a hybrid program, we are a hybrid of supported employment services and day programming that is paid for through medicaid. Our goal is to alleviate as many burdens on families - starting with the financial burden of paying for programming.
What can you do?
Connect with us. If you or someone you know is a local business owner who is open to implementing a program please get in touch.
Each pod will provide supported employment for 4-6 individuals who will serve up to 2 local businesses. Each individual will be provided with 1:1 and group support weekly.
Each pod will focus on a speciality service based on their abilities and interests. They will be matched with local businesses based on the services they are in need of.
Services will include tasks like:
Cleaning
Recycling
Shredding
Inventory and warehouse support
Packaging support
Mail sorting
Organization of supplies and materials
Office supplies maintenance
Filing & scanning
If you or someone you know is interested in enrolling in services or partnering with Connections Collective, please reach out using our contact form. Enrollment is currently on a rolling basis as soon as we can create a pod to match with a business we will get started. Our goal is to launch services in the Chicago suburbs with the goal of expanding services next year.
