In addition to one’s family, friends and faith, every person gains a sense of significance through working hard at a job they enjoy. For adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, building integration in each area can be a challenge. But when there’s a success story, Aegis loves to share and celebrate it. One Aegis resident decided she wanted a job, and when her Individual Support Plan Team met, it was determined to refer her to Vocational Rehabilitation and a job coach. Together they discovered the resident’s abilities and job goals, community support needs such as a safety plan or protocol, and if there was a particular job field that interested her more. “They were able to find her a job at a local hardware store,” shares Resident Manager Caitlin Foley. “The store assigned her a job developer to help identify the job and together with the job coach helped her complete a working interview.” The store partnered to create a position for the resident that includes a set schedule with specific duties and supports for on-the-job training as well as health and safety support. “Having a job has helped her grow and develop as a person and allows her to demonstrate her capabilities. Her co-workers really enjoy working with her, and now she is a woman with the means to give to others,” says Caitlin. “She’s able to tithe to her church, buy gifts for those who are important to her, and grow her financial capacity.” Aegis Area Manager Robert Jordan observes, “This builds an increased sense of independence. Instead of relying completely on others, a resident will be empowered to contribute to the marketplace and community around them.” This has led to her asking about more hours or adding another day to her work schedule. Resident Manager Josh Robertson has seen this effect with residents in his home. “I think that regardless of disability, a person should aspire to work and help foster communal relationships with others. It can help a resident garner a sense of pride.” “Work is a fundamental human virtue,” says Robert. “We are social beings that find fulfillment in serving one another with purpose, being ‘others focused,’ and contributing to the individuals in our sphere of influence.” About Aegis Residential Care LLC
Aegis Residential Care is a licensed 24-hour residential care provider that furnishes holistic, compassionate services to individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities in the Salem, Oregon area. The company’s philosophy places a high value on stability, respect, gentility, organization, reliability, resourcefulness and community. John was working for a local service provider and caring for adults with disabilities, many who also had mental health needs. However, countless individuals were on wait lists with clinicians for a year or more. He heard that one too many times. It was at that point that he felt called to do something about it and try to attack the problem. The Aegis team met John Breivogel through his sister-in-law who lives at one of our residences. Caitlin Foley, Manager of the home, heard John’s story and needed to share it. “His story is inspiring,” she says, “because he was driven and passionate; he did something about a problem he saw. His values align with ours.” John unpacks the challenge he identified. “I saw this big gap, and it became glaringly obvious that there’s a population of adults with co-occurring intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health issues. It’s unfortunate that the underlying mental health issues often get classified as behavioral issues. There’s so much more behind that, but it doesn’t ever get explored because at a surface level someone gets tagged with the term intellectual disability.” So John committed to getting his masters in Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling. Unfortunately, the first hurdle he had to overcome was that he didn’t have a Bachelor’s degree. But this was 2020, and he was working from home and discovered he could earn an online degree following an accelerated timeline. “It became this challenge for me,” he admits. “How quickly could I get the work done?” Fourteen months later, working diligently every single day, he earned his Bachelor’s degree from Capella University. He followed that up with a two-year dual program at Western Oregon University along with a Federal Grant that would cover most of the tuition. This Fall, John is partnering with another clinician to start Forging Path Counseling and Wellness (forgingpathscounseling.com) in Salem. He hopes to address the gap in services that exists. “A population of individuals are not receiving services, and the demand for help is going up. Many issues don’t get diagnosed. And they often don’t get explored. They are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. And this population has less engagement and inclusion. The change is slow, but the population doesn’t have robust social and family supports. That’s a recipe for problems.” Over the coming year, what does John (pictured above) hope happens? “My goal would be to reach this specific population of people who have been underserved. I’m just one person, but I hope to take on a caseload of thirty to forty, and that’s not nearly enough. I want to help create awareness and highlight the need. Adding more clinicians is the dream!”
Aegis is excited to partner with John and others within the Marion County I/DD community who rise to meet the challenges that come with seeing individuals’ lives improve in health and spirit. About Aegis Residential Care LLC Aegis Residential Care is a licensed 24-hour residential care provider that furnishes holistic, compassionate services to individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities in the Salem, Oregon area. The company’s philosophy places a high value on stability, respect, gentility, organization, reliability, resourcefulness and community. On March 16th and 17th, Marion County, Oregon held its 2023 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Conference, themed “Putting the Unity in Community,” at the Salem Convention Center. Aegis Residential Care attended and found it to be a wonderful avenue for reengaging face-to-face within the IDD community. Aegis Area Manager Robert Jordan acknowledged how long it’d been since this type of in-person event had been conducted. “The best part of being at the conference was the opportunities it presented to connect and network with other providers, case management entities, and parents and guardians.” “We got to meet and interact with other organizations that exist to serve the IDD community that we otherwise wouldn’t normally come into contact with,” said Jonathan Holmgren, Aegis’ Human Resources Director. “Seeing and meeting with case managers that we haven’t worked with for a few years was wonderful and rewarding,” said Robert. “Human interaction was much needed. It reinforced the feeling that ‘We’re real people just like you, not just another name on an email or a voice over a phone. This is who we are.’” Along with owners Steve and Ryan Kariker, Resident Managers Angie Fowler and Stephannie Sperling had the opportunity to man the table and to circulate among attendees. “It was encouraging to be told we have a growing reputation within the IDD community. Family members of our DSPs stopped by and told us how much our support professionals love working for Aegis. Brokerages came by and recognized our presence and acknowledged our contributions to the support community. We also attended several break-out sessions that were encouraging and loaded with information,” said Robert.
“One key interaction,” shared Jonathan, “was meeting a new dental practice that has a van and wants to bring care to residents at their homes. We’re excited to explore how we might partner with them to provide better and more flexible dentistry for some of our residents.” Aegis is looking forward to next year’s conference and hopes that more residential providers take advantage of attending and get to know one another. About Aegis Residential Care LLC Aegis Residential Care is a licensed 24-hour residential care provider that furnishes holistic, compassionate services to individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities in the Salem, Oregon area. The company’s philosophy places a high value on stability, respect, gentility, organization, reliability, resourcefulness and community. |
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April 2024
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