Elderly stroke survivor realizes her dream to live independently, not in a nursing home

From the Frederick News-Post in Maryland:

When a stroke in September forced 81-year-old Mary Garnsey away from her lifelong home of Amarillo, Texas, and into Frederick 's Northampton Manor Health Care Center, her first thoughts were not of despair.

Rather, she was determined to return to the independence she had known her entire life, even after losing her left leg to a blood clot six years ago, and to the activity she loves most: shopping.

"I figured they'd get ahold of me and try to keep me here," said Garnsey, who came to Frederick to be near her daughter Donna Smith, who lives in Middletown . "But I wanted to be able to go to Walmart and get out and do the things I wanted to do."

Through a combination of her own determination and the efforts of the Freedom Center -- a local federally funded, nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities make the transition into the community -- Garnsey will be getting her wish.

She will soon be moving out of the nursing home and into a unit at Mountain Glen Apartments in Frederick , where she will receive home medical assistance 12 hours a day.

"The first couple days are going to be weird, but I'm so excited about it," Garnsey said. "I can start doing my own cooking again."

The move is being made possible in part by a federal initiative called Money Follows the Person, under which Medicaid vouchers of up to $72,000 can be used to help those with disabilities live independently in the place of their choosing.

Currently, 84 percent of Medicaid funds are being used for nursing home care, a number that Money Follows the Person seeks to see lowered.

According to Mary Kemp, 49, a Freedom Center Disability Advocate who has worked with Garnsey during the process, the program will help give many seniors and other disabled people the ability to decide for themselves how and where they want to lead their lives.

"I listen to Mary's wishes," Kemp said. "My job is to do what she wants, not what I think is in her best interest. She determines what is in her own best interest."

The Freedom Center has about 600 independent offices nationwide, including five in Maryland. The local office, at 1500 Opossumtown Pike, serves about 300 people in Frederick and Carroll counties.

According to the Frederick Freedom Center website, the organization provides four core services -- "individual and systems advocacy, information and referral, and independent living skills training to people with disabilities."

The local center will also participate in a state initiative to speak personally with every nursing home patient in Maryland about their living arrangement preferences. Kemp says they will visit 2,000 beds per quarter across Frederick , Carroll and Howard counties.

Garnsey said that Kemp and the Freedom Center have been tireless in their efforts on her behalf.

"Thank God for (Mary)," she said. "She's been an awful lot of help to me. She helped me boost up my confidence."

According to Kemp, Garnsey's positive outlook and independent spirit have been instrumental in making the process a smooth one. She hopes Garnsey's can-do attitude will rub off on others.

"I was totally inspired by Mary," Kemp said. "She's so strong-willed. To have that kind of determination is an inspiration to other people."

She also credits Smith along with members of the local community for making the move possible, including Mountain Glen Apartments; Goodwill Industries, which provided vouchers for home goods; and Wolf Furniture, which donated a new couch for Gamsey's apartment.

As for Garnsey, who has been invited back to Northampton as a volunteer, she also hopes her situation can be an example for others to follow.

"I'll talk to anybody and everybody about it," she said. "You have to have the willpower not to give up. You start to give up and you're sunk. That ain't me. I always find something to smile about."