Haylee Cain: A Remarkable Year

Finding Haylee a home and a familyMaking a Difference: Donna and Judson Emens took it upon themselves to help a young girl with cerebral palsy, forming their own special family in Tuscumbia, Ala. NBC Newstation Clare Duffy reports. click link below to see more on this great child: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/38600663#38600663 Alabama Family Trust for the Benefit of Haylee Cain 120 Oslo CircleBirmingham, AL 35211 Hitting home Cheryl Laura Allenbaugh, Nightly News producer, writes: " When I first saw Haylee's story it hit home for me. In college, looking for a way to pay for tuition, I ended up as a home health care aide. Every evening I traveled to various group homes for patients with mental disabilities and took them shopping, balanced the check book, and generally helped in the upkeep of the home. It sounds simple, but it was mentally exhausting... though it didn't compare to my morning job - caring for Cheryl, a woman with cerebral palsy. Cheryl was in her early 40's and living at home with her 85 year old mother. Cheryl's cerebral palsy was advanced to the point where she couldn't sit up, or feed herself and it took me almost a month before I was able to understand her limited speech. Despite her difficulty communicating, she was extremely smart - weekly Scrabble games at her house were a humbling experience for those brave enough to take her on. Every morning it was my job to get her up and ready for work. She designed greeting cards through a computer program at the local center that catered to individuals with disabilities. She was capable of more but she needed constant supervision - even in her wheelchair she sometimes slid to the side and couldn't right herself - but she loved her job and was always very happy to go. She worked 8 to 5 and in the evenings, either I of another aide would come back to feed her dinner, spend the evening chatting or playing games and then put her to bed. Weekends always involved loading her up in the van and going out to lunch, watching our local orchestra in the park, or visiting whatever fair was in town. I even saw a Beach Boys concert with her. I complained the whole way there - she enjoyed laughing at me as I sang the songs the whole way home. My junior year of college, I was offered a well paying job in television production that I couldn't turn down. I left pretty suddenly so I don't know what happened to Cheryl but at the same time, I do. Everyone who worked with her knew what was going to happen. Her mom was not doing well. Shortly before I left, she had suffered a heart attack. She needed the health care aides around more often and since we helped with her finances we all knew that she was going through the family savings quickly. There was no way Cheryl could pay to have a 24 hour home health care aide so we knew that when her mom would eventually pass away, she would lose her house, her job and her only family member the same day. She had no other options. She would be going to a nursing home. When I started there, Cheryl would often joke to me that she was going to come stay with me. I would joke back, "How could I leave you, Cheryl?" For her though, it wasn't a joke. When I told her I was quitting my job, she didn't speak to me for the last week I worked there. I was yet another person who wasn't really going to save her from her inevitable fate. Haylee, the woman we profile in tonight's Making a Difference report, was promised too over the years. It's easy to say you'll help but what the Emenses, the family that brought her in, are doing is truly remarkable - they are saving her. But there are thousands of Cheryls out there. Spending their 40's, 30's, even their 20's in nursing homes - all in peak mental condition and aware of their surroundings. Not every person can be adopted - it's not a feasible answer - but hopefully the Emenses, and all the people who are working to support them, can inspire the system to change. If you'd like to help Haylee, a trust has been set up in her name. Alabama Family Trust for the Benefit of Haylee Cain120 Oslo CircleBirmingham, AL 35211 Dr. Dennis Steele is an advocate for change to help people like Haylee.