Easter Seals Southern Georgia expanding services for children, adults

ALBANY — While known for the services it provides through Megan’s House — a respite home for children up to age 17 who have developmental disabilities, autism or are medically fragile — there is more to what Easter Seals Southern Georgia has to offer.

Nicki Wilson, director of respite and family support services for Easter Seals, gave an update before the Albany Rotary Club on Thursday on some of the services it offers to those impacted by developmental disabilities in Southwest Georgia and beyond.

While the organization primarily serves 39 counties, there are services offered to people through the Southern Georgia office that impact those in other Easter Seals regions — bringing the total number of counties now served through the office based in Albany to 60, with the Savannah area being the most recent addition, Wilson said.

The organization recently had a contract expansion for its family support services, which Wilson said will hopefully allow Easter Seals to be able to serve more families who feel the financial blows often associated with a loved one who has a developmental disability.

“It pays for things that insurance and Medicaid doesn’t pay for,” Wilson said.

The eligibility for those services, Wilson said, is a diagnosis.

For the families of children it serves, Easter Seals also does summer camps so the children don’t regress while school is out, offers reimbursement of transportation expenses and helps to offset the cost of other expenses such as dental visits or glasses, Wilson said.

For adults, among the most critical programs is vocational services for those who can work. Easter Seals, with the help of community partners, recently conducted a pilot program through which the adults served by Easter Seals could find employment with those partners.

Wilson told the story of a client in his early 20s with autism. Considered highly functional, he was placed in a job at Colquitt Regional Medical Center he was expected to take three years to complete.

He finished the job in one year. He is now working there full-time in the hospital’s medical records department, has benefits and is looking for an apartment so he can move out of his family’s home.

While in a room full of business people on Thursday, Wilson encouraged the Rotarians to look into participating in the effort to help place Easter Seals clients in jobs.

“It’s exciting to see someone excel like that,” she said.

Wilson also made note of the residential services offered through Easter Seals, such as independent living complexes — which has staff on hand to make sure residents are eating their meals and catching the morning shuttle — and group homes for those who need more care.

There are also the adult day programs so that social interactions can still be had for those not quite able to work, which currently operates out of locations in Albany, Leesburg, Cordele, Tifton and Vienna with another to soon be added in Thomasville.

“The goal (of the adult day programs) is to eventually transition them to the vocational (services) so they can go out and work,” Wilson said. “If they don’t, that’s fine. They can stay in the adult day program.”