“How Next Steps to Independence can be Derailed by the Day to Day”
by Sara Crimm, Director, Families CCAN
When I asked Mara Dorff, Families CCAN Facilitator and Family Navigator, what I should write about for our blog, she said: “How next steps to independence can be derailed by the day to day.” She added: “This is something I deal with on a personal and a professional level. It’s the main reason I see for why families have difficulty moving ahead with their plans.”
Upon reflection I agree with Mara. As a parent I’ve been living with and learning from disability for over 30 years now. And it’s true. Often the very process of making it through the day saps your energy and derails longer-term planning. When we focus so much of our energy on the immediate, we tend to neglect long-term steps to independence.
What are we putting off? The work of helping our family members construct and live an Everyday Life: setting goals and building skills, assembling a circle of supportive relationships, finding community connections, making a financial plan, seeking out a housing setting that will work, securing employment, finding supports. . . The list goes on.
Secretly we all want someone else to do these hard things for us. In reality it is our work to do. But next best thing: a coach or ally to walk alongside us, help us set goals & direction, provide supports, resources and encouragement, keep us focused, hold us accountable; A partner to help us rise above the day to day.
Flash news!! Finding that partner is possible! Families CCAN provides this through our Family Navigation service. One-on-one consulting with Mara Dorff or Abby Martucci that is tailored to your family and your family member’s needs, goals and timelines. Wonder what that might be like? Here’s what some of our families have to say about working with a Family Navigator:
"I appreciate Mara's help and focus. She's keeping me on track."
—AS, parent
"Thank you so much. Working with you is very helpful, I’ve felt stuck in a log-jam around this and you are helping to break it, and helping to motivate me to feel like we can get this done! You Rock!"
—CT, parent
“Our daughter is an adult with multiple physical disabilities and behavioral issues who has been living with us her entire life. Although she has care at home, we have never been able to find a living situation for her outside. As she and we are getting older we rededicated ourselves to finding support for us and a more independent situation for her. In the past, we have been frustrated with our choices and had no one to help us create a roadmap to the next steps. Mara, our FCCAN counselor, has embraced us and our situation wholeheartedly with experience and knowledge. She has connected our family with several organizations that are candidates for housing, behavioral therapy and our well-being. She is helping all of us prepare for more independence. Mara and FCCAN are now our companions on the path to getting us and our daughter to our next and future steps.”
—AM and LN, parents
Are you feeling stuck? Not sure about next steps? Or maybe you know the direction you want to take but need some support to get there? That’s what Family Navigation Services can provide for you and your family member. Maybe you just need a short-term solution to an immediate issue, like resources for post-21, or better implementation of your family members’ plan, or moving off of the waiver waiting list. Our Family Navigation service can help with all of that.
You can learn more about Family Navigation and submit a confidential inquiry here.
