Returning to the Community
Virginia Hinson starts her day as most senior citizens each
morning. Up by dawn, ninety year old Virginia
enjoys her morning coffee while
watching television in her home. Hinson spent 77 years living
institutionally in Nashville, before becoming a
resident in a supported living home operated by the community services office
of Volunteers of America in Nashville.
“Today, Virginia gets to do
what she wants, basically when she wants,” said LuAnn Brent, Virginia’s
appointed guardian. Virginia’s home, located in
a quiet neighbor-hood in the Nashville
suburb of Old Hickory, is carefully maintained by Volunteers of America. |
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Hinson
lives with two of her peers in a close-knit home and spends her day talking
with others, participating in activities that would not be available if she
were still institutionalized.
Throughout the rest of Davidson County,
Tennessee, Volunteers of America operates nine
similar homes in Hermitage, Old Hickory and Madison for formerly institutionalized
clients. There are seven additional adult homes serving the Memphis area. Irwinette Crite, director of
health services for Volunteers of America in Nashville, explains that “our clients receive
round-the-clock nursing supervision and are learning how to do household
chores, dress themselves, and live a more normal lifestyle.”
The issues of aging and medical oversight provide important
contexts to the services Volunteers of America provides in its supported living
homes. “We provide a service that is
difficult to find–that is medical services for people who are aging with mental
retardation,” said Tyronda McClellan, residential services coordinator. “Many
of the people we support, like Virginia,
have spent decades institutionalized, so it’s important that their latter years
be like anyone else’s. With our help that can happen.”
Having had her coffee, Virginia Hinson is ready to face the new day in the
comfort, security and contentment of her
Volunteers of America home.