Message from Leadership: Our family

What is family? As we move through life, our answers change. People come and go. They enter into our lives and help to reshape our definition of family. From our beginning, more than 40 years ago, we started out as a small group of caregivers serving a handful of members. It felt like family.

As we grew, our extended family grew. Today, Community Care serves more than 13,000 members and employs close to 1,000 individuals in 15 counties. It still feels like family. All of our members and our employees are part of our Community Care family.

At our core, each of us at Community Care is a caregiver. We may have specific jobs and titles, but it takes a special person to devote their lives to this work: helping our members, seniors and individuals with disabilities, live as independently as possible in their communities.

Like all families, we look ahead. To that end, we made important progress in 2019 that will set us up for a bright future. We continued to strengthen our efforts to ensure that members are getting the care that they need to achieve their long-term health goals; we expanded the Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) to make it available to more people in Racine County; at the state’s request, we took the first step to expand our Family Care services in Dane County.

We had a good year in 2019, our 42nd year in managed care. As an organization, we find ourselves on solid ground, financially speaking. That success guarantees that we can continue to invest in our members and our caregivers. Our future looks good.

Our hope is to welcome more people into our family, by continuing to be both a trusted provider of care and an employer of choice in the communities we serve. Thank you to all of our members and our caregivers – each and every person who makes up our Community Care family – because of you, we continue to live out our mission together.

Benjamin Schwab, 29, Wauwatosa, Family Care member

It’s hard not to feel happy around Ben Schwab. Maybe it’s his smile. No, it’s definitely his smile. It’s the first thing you notice about Ben when you walk through the door at the Culver’s in Elm Grove.

For six hours a week, Ben’s there tidying up the dining room, helping out where he’s needed. He works at Culver’s as part of a program that helps individuals like Ben, who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, find jobs in the community and pairs them with a job coach.

Ben may not be able to express exactly what he gets out of his job. His boss will tell you. He gets friendship, not just from his team members, but from the guests as well. That’s not all. “We can teach someone how to wipe a table, but for him, feeling that pride, you can’t teach that,” said Carla van Willigen, Ben’s supervisor at Culver’s. “Personally, just to see the smile on his face … his joy filters through everybody.”

Shortly after enrolling in Community Care’s Family Care program, Ben graduated from Wauwatosa West High School. After graduation, his dad did not want him restricted to a sheltered workshop. Ben is just too social. This is one of the ways Community Care has helped. Now, in addition to his job, Ben lives in a group home and enjoys his independence. He attends a local adult day program regularly, he volunteers with his dad at the local Ronald McDonald House, he visits the local YMCA a couple of times a week, and he participates in Special Olympics. Ben’s story is a great example of how Family Care helps individuals with disabilities continue to live independently in their community.

Pamela Evers, 62, Milwaukee, PROGRAM OF ALL INCLUSIVE CARE FOR THE ELDERLY (PACE) member

For years, Pamela Evers struggled with her health. She’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She struggled with prescription pain medication. Then she broke her foot and required several surgeries to repair it. At one point, Pamela thought she might be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. In and out of hospitals, rehab centers, and assisted living apartments, it got to a point where she felt like she was going down a dead-end street. She did not feel motivated to take control of her life or her health.

In a sense, she says, she did not feel whole, that is until she found PACE. After meeting with Community Care social workers who discussed the many benefits of the Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly, Pamela turned a corner. “When they introduced it to me, I felt like I had some hope. I didn’t feel so alone,” Pamela said. “Looking back, I can see how the program has truly helped me out in so many beautiful ways.”

Once she enrolled in PACE, Pamela worked with her case managers to set goals for herself. She works hard to achieve those goals. Today, Pamela is living in her own apartment again. Three days a week she visits Community Care’s Vliet adult day center, where she stays very active. She also helps write articles for the quarterly newsletter that the day center members put together. Pamela never thought she was a social person, until she started attending the day center. She surprised herself and her family. They make a point to tell her how much of a change they’ve seen in her since she enrolled in the PACE program. “The program brought me from a dark point in my life to a point of celebration,” Pamela said. One of Pamela’s proudest achievements is writing her life story. It’s a passion project that she works at daily, because she wants more than anything to share her story and hopefully inspire others to take control of their lives. It’s a perfect example of how Community Care’s PACE program helps individuals like Pamela live as independently as possible for as long as possible in their community.

Leah Schwalenberg, 36, Hilbert, Family Care-Partnership member

Life has not been easy for Leah Schwalenberg. She had been struggling with mental illness, including schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder, which created a lot of problems in her personal life. Every part of her life seemed upside down, according to her mother Ruth. Then came the fateful night when she was hit by a drunk driver and suffered a traumatic brain injury.

It’s a complicated story, but needless to say it set Leah back. After 15 days in a medically induced coma, Leah was different. The accident compounded her existing mental health issues and sent her through a series of difficult hospital stays.

That’s when the team from Community Care’s Partnership program entered Leah Schwalenberg’s life, just when she and her parents needed someone to help them navigate uncharted waters. Ruth and Dan Schwalenberg had always fought for their daughter. But, no matter how hard they tried, they often felt like they came up short in their efforts to help Leah. During one of her last hospital stays following her accident, Leah’s parents were told she wouldn’t do well returning home. But they knew better. Leah wanted to go home and they wanted her home. The team from Community Care helped to make that happen.

Through the Partnership program, they helped Leah get the therapies she needs in the home. She’s defied all expectations. She takes her medications. She attends a weekly support group. Through the Partnership program, Leah’s parents learned how to navigate a complicated system, to advocate for their daughter, and get her the help she needs. “She’s got some good people helping her. Our goal is for her to be more independent,” Ruth said. “It isn’t always easy, we have to work through things, but we get through it with the help of Community Care.” Leah Schwalenberg’s story is an excellent example of how the Partnership program helps individuals live as independently as possible thanks to a team of professionals that works with members to coordinate all aspects of their care.

The annual CCI Employee Excellence Awards are a chance to recognize employees who demonstrate one or more of the following characteristics: outstanding dedication, exceptional performance, exemplary actions and attitudes, and excellent and innovative service to our members. Here are the winners from 2019 and what their nominators had to say.

Joe has an excellent and positive attitude every day. He always goes a step above and beyond to solve problems, and to help others. Joe comes up with excellent ideas for projects and initiatives. He will see everything through until a solution has been found to any barrier or problem. Joe is full of energy and commitment to every task he undertakes. He is also a very kind, respectful person and pleasant to work with. I really admire Joe's positivity and work ethic, and feel very lucky to be part of this team. He has a great future.

Torrie is a long term employee here at Community Care and began her career at Prospect Place. From the moment I met Torrie, I was impressed with her dedication to our members and our mission to serve this very special population of elders (sisters at Sacred Heart Convent). Torrie has grown as an employee and is a leader amongst her peers. She is always willing to pick up shifts, share ideas, and is currently helping advance the agency with her participation in our Career Ladder work group. I cannot think of a more well-deserving employee!

Amy exemplifies commitment to our members, her co-workers and colleagues, and Community Care as a whole. She is a champion for member rights and frequently, routinely provides education for staff, providers and guardians about rights and positive approaches to working with members. Amy's style of work is collaborative as demonstrated in her relationships with county staff, guardians, and providers. Amy is highly valued by the care teams with whom she works daily. She is a tremendous asset to Community Care and always represents Community Care in a professional manner.

Jean has demonstrated excellence in customer service by her consistent “can do attitude.” She is reliable, flexible, and one of the kindest people I have ever met! Jean is able to problem solve independently, delegate appropriately, and get the job done for many different disciplines and many different personalities inside and outside of Community Care. I personally am grateful for Jean and all she continues to do for me and our organization. Jean is a hard working and conscientious employee. She is truly an asset to Community Care and an extremely valuable member of the Finance team.

Community Health Matters event

Outreach is one of the best tools we have to spread the word about Community Care. While we do a number of outreach events throughout the year, our biggest is Community Health Matters. In September 2019, we hosted Community Health Matters events at our Adult Day Center in Milwaukee. At the event, visitors could get flu shots, blood pressure checks, and a variety of other health screenings. The event also included educational presentations, as well as opportunities to meet with Community Care doctors and other local health and wellness providers. In addition to providing visitors with valuable resources, this event gave us an opportunity to highlight the quality programs and services that Community Care offers.