I am taking a break at my job to write about my job. Kind of funny? There is this new awesome federal program called Money Follows the Person or MFP for short. It is new to McLean County. And myself and a co-worker are in charge of the program for McLean County. MFP is a program to get nursing home residents back into the community who have been in the nursing home for at least 6 months and are on Medicaid (public aid). You see once you go to a Nursing Home longer that a short stay if you are Medicaid all your income minus $30 goes to the nursing home. So you eventually lose your apartment because you have no income to pay your rent. Then you have no way of saving up for rent/deposit. That is where this program steps in. It is great and a bit overwhelming. I have my first MFP client. She has been in the nursing home for 6 months. I have an apartment for her. Now I have to get all the stuff for her apartment. I thought that would be fun. Then my co-worker helped me realize how much stuff we have to get.
Look around your home. Think of the essentials. She has none of that, no furniture, no soap, no toilet paper, no food, NOTHING. I have to get that all for her. So it is a little overwhelming. Then I thought about it some more. How awesome is it that I get to do this? I get to take a person who was in a nursing home for 4 years that never thought she would get to go home. And I get to get her into the community. She is so thrilled and excited. She gets her cat back, that her vet has been watching for her. Her cat is like a kid to her. She is happy to get privacy and her own place.
People ask me why I am a social worker. This is why. To see the difference I am making in her life is worth it.
