Open Doors De-Institutionalization Program

Independent Perspective #1635

Guest:  Gerilyn Capps

Topic:  Open Doors De-Institutionalization Program

Duration:  5:30

Published:  March 4, 2021

Host:  Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living. Our guest today is Gerilyn Capps, Open Doors Transition Service Coordinator with Independent Living of Niagara County, and your host is yours truly, Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program Gerilyn.

Guest:  Good morning, Ernie and thank you for having me.

Host:  In this day and time of the Covid 19 pandemic, what you're doing is especially important for the people in your service area which is Open Doors, the current name of what used to be called Money Follows the Person when it was strictly a federal program to direct Medicaid dollars. Why should we care about Open Doors, what does it do for people?

Guest:  That's a great question, Ernie. Open Doors assists people that are in institutions that want to move out of that institution and back into the community, living in the community, independent, as independent as possible with community based services.

Host:  If a person comes to you and wants to live on their own in the community what sort of things do you do for them?

Guest:  Okay, first I would just talk to them and kind of observe and see what their abilities are, and not really determine if they can live independently in the community, but just kind of observe and see if their abilities, and their needs can be met with community based services. Now that area is kind of gray, because there's a lot of ways that myself as a transition specialist and also as an employee of Western New York Independent Living, I can kind of advocate for them, if, if they are at a greater need, and sometimes a nursing home may say that their needs are too bleak for the community. However, I still would allow them, their choice and help them the best that I can. And putting the services together and the supports that they may have family or community involvement or church, even just to get those supports in order for them to live in the community.

Host:  And that sounds like an incredibly valuable service, especially in this day and time. To give us some practical examples, are there some success stories you could mention without naming individuals names of course.

Guest:  Yes, yes. This one lady comes to mind when I first met her, she just wanted to get back to her home. She was away from her home for over a year. She did have supports in the community, but it was some family dynamics going on where she was living, the supports was living in the participants home and I guess she didn't want to, you know, rock the boat in terms of her being there alone and letting the participant come on back home. Needless to say, we had did everything we needed to do, we mean Open Doors, regarding her services. She had a PT and OT at home. The nursing home was a little reluctant to put together a plan for her because doing her recovery for I believe a knee injury, it healed her knee healed, where her leg was turned sideways, because the boot kind of shifted sideways. But all in all, we did get her home with the community based services in place. She has the PT so that they can continue to work on that leg. That family dynamic kind of got better because we let the family know what was expected. And if they were on board. I talked to her periodically, she thanks me every time that I call her for follow up to see how well she's doing. And she says that she doesn't know what she would have done if I wouldn't have came and talk to her about going back home.

Host:  Gerilyn, that's terrific but we're totally out of time I'm sure people will have questions. How can they reach you to ask them?

Guest:  Sure. So, again, my name is Gerilyn Capps. I work at the Independent Living of Niagara County. I work in the Open Doors program. And I can be reached at 716-284-4131 extension 203.

Host:  Thanks so much for being with us Gerilyn.

Guest:  Thanks for having me Ernie.

Host:  You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living. Our guest today was Gerilyn Capps, Open Doors Transition Service Coordinator with Independent Living of Niagara County, and your host is yours truly, Ernie Churchwell.