What changes when
someone is watching
Every family comes to us with a different story. Here are a few that show what having an experienced nurse in your corner can change.
Each story below is labelled. Some are real families who gave permission. Some are illustrative examples drawn from situations we see often.
When Mom says “I’m fine”
“I don’t think Mom needs home health care or someone with her all day. I just need someone I trust to put eyes on her and help me understand what’s actually going on.”
THE SITUATION
HOW WE HELPED
THE RESULT
“I know there are benefits for my child. I just don’t know where to start.”
“People keep telling me there are benefits for special needs kids. But what benefits? Where do I apply? Who do I call?”
THE SITUATION
HOW WE HELPED
A Nurse Ambassador learned about her child’s diagnoses, daily needs, current care, insurance, school services, and benefits already in place. Then we built a personal roadmap covering programs worth exploring, from Medicaid waiver programs and respite care to SSI, ABLE accounts, and planning for adulthood, and helped her organize the documentation.
THE RESULT
For the first time, she had a plan: what to prioritize, what she’d need, and where to begin. And she no longer felt she had to figure out an incredibly complicated system on her own.
Why this work is personal: Alexa’s story
When my daughter Alexa was three, I signed her up for Florida’s APD iBudget program. For people with developmental disabilities, it opens the door to Medicaid based on the disability, not the family’s income. For Alexa, that has meant her doctor visits, surgeries, medications, and dental care are covered. Her health plan even includes an over-the-counter benefit most families never realize they have.
Through the waiver, she also receives respite care and a personal care assistant who comes to our home each week. And we opened an ABLE account for her when she was little, so she can save for her future without putting her benefits at risk.
None of this came with instructions. I learned it the hard way, one phone call and one form at a time. Today I meet parents at school pickup whose children are 14 and 15 and who have never heard of these programs. That’s why I do this. No family should have to figure it out alone.
Independence, protected
His savings had to stay under a strict limit, and he didn’t know how to plan around it.
THE SITUATION
HOW WE HELPED
Gineen helped him apply for long-term care support at home and set up an ABLE account, a savings account for people with disabilities. The money is still his, and he controls it. It can be used for disability-related expenses like clothing, equipment, special food, medications, and travel, and it generally doesn’t count against his eligibility for benefits.
THE RESULT
Support at home, savings he controls, and a plan for the future.