Much like a young bird venturing from its familiar nest, Tawsha Henderson Stewart has moved from her CCL group home to a one-bedroom apartment.

   Tawsha, who turns 25 in April, lives near CCL’s Meyer Hall in Winfield. Since Dec. 1, she has prepared her own meals, cleaned her apartment, set her own schedule and made many other decisions, while receiving assistance with budgeting, grocery shopping and some other responsibilities. She has part-time jobs as a housekeeper at two local motels and on another cleaning crew.

   “I love living in an apartment,” Tawsha said. “I’m by myself. It’s quiet. … I like being able to lounge around and not worry about someone walking in. I can get up when I want to.”

   When Tawsha first came to CCL, she was a 17-year-old high school student and had been living with foster parents. She resided in an adult group home at CCL and later graduated from Winfield High School. She tried living independently in an apartment once before, but that time it didn’t work out.

   “When I first started living here (at CCL), I wasn’t supposed to be here this long,” Tawsha said. “I didn’t realize the staff were helping me, and I fought them a lot. I finally realized the only way to ever be on my own is to work with them and do what they suggest. Now that I have matured in a lot of ways, I realize they didn’t do it to rule my life. They did it to protect me and teach me how to deal with things on my own in the real world.

   “Now that I’m getting closer” to being independent, “I know I’m more ready but scared at the same time,” she said. “If I leave completely, I won’t have Cara, Kerry and others to lean on.”

   Cara Vinson is her team leader, and Kerry Hastings is her case manager at CCL.

   “Tawsha has matured,” Kerry said. “She is working on money management skills, she’s becoming more physically fit, she has worked to address socialization skills, and she continues to work on developing positive work behavior.

   “Tawsha is ambitious and wants to live on her own. She is developing confidence in all aspects of her life.”

   Several obstacles had to be toppled before Tawsha could move to an apartment.

   She had a debt to pay off, and her guardian requested that she save enough money to cover her expenses before moving. She accomplished both goals.

   A medication issue was solved with the purchase of an automatic pill dispenser. Twice daily an alarm goes off, and a little drawer containing a pill opens. Tawsha has an hour to take the pill before the drawer closes automatically. When a staff member later refills the drawers with pills, it’s obvious if Tawsha has taken her medication.

   “It’s awesome,” Tawsha said. “It’s like an alarm clock with a big horn. It’s really loud. I can sleep through an alarm clock but not this.”

   “It is the first time CCL has used this machine,” Cara said. “It’s working. Tawsha tries to be at her apartment at the times when the alarm goes off. We know if the pill was missed.”

   If she isn’t feeling well, Tawsha can contact one of the CCL nurses.

   Cara and Tawsha meet weekly to work on her budget. They write and co-sign checks, deposit paychecks and complete other tasks.

   “If Tawsha were on her own, she probably wouldn’t think far enough ahead to have money to pay for things,” Cara said. “She brings her grocery list, and we guess what things will cost. One of us takes her to buy groceries once a week. I’ve worked with her to have a more balanced diet. It’s all an on-going learning experience for her.”

   Tawsha is responsible for keeping her apartment clean. Because CCL’s Quality Assurance drop-in program doesn’t include the apartment, Cara drops by unannounced a couple days a week. Most cleaning tasks aren’t too bad, according to Tawsha.

   “The only part of cleaning I hate is laundry,” she said.

   Because it was costing her so much to use the washing machines and dryers in her apartment building, a CCL staff member now drops her off at a local laundry once or twice a week and returns later to pick her up.

   “Cara helps me see the big picture,” Tawsha said of her team leader. “Sometimes we argue and get frustrated with each other. She usually brings it around so that I agree with her. I call her Mom because she has been there for me ever since I moved here (to CCL).”

   Cara admits she is sometimes pretty firm with Tawsha.

   “I don’t let her get by with things,” she said. “I try to help her take off her blinders” and see the possible consequences of her actions.

   “I’m not afraid to say what’s on my mind,” Tawsha admitted. “Sometimes I go too far and speak before I think. I get called out on it.”

   Tawsha, like many others living more independently in the community, receives funding through the Home and Community Based Services waiver (HCBS). This provides the opportunity for her to access residential supports as needed. At the present time, she calls to schedule staff to assist with laundry, shopping, menu planning, budgeting and managing problems with the medication dispenser.

   Tawsha receives other benefits that help her live in her community, and she is employed part time in housekeeping at the local Super 8 and Comfort Inn.

   “Motel work is very sparse right now,” Cara said. “They call when they need her. Day services staff take her there if she works during the week, and on weekends the Lake Road Farm staff and individuals take her. She has worked at Wal-Mart and would like to work toward doing that again.”

   Since early March, Tawsha has also been a member of a crew that cleans the Cowley County Health Department in Arkansas City on Wednesday and Friday evenings. CCL holds a year-long contract for the job, and three other clients are also members of the supported work team.

   Although Tawsha needs rides to the Super 8 and Comfort Inn, which are several miles from her apartment, she ordinarily walks or rides her bike when going places closer to home.

   “If she does need transportation, she is responsible for taking care of that,” Cara said. “She tries to find someone going the same place. If there is no one, she calls someone, depending on the activity. It hasn’t been an issue yet.”

   She has gotten acquainted with some of her neighbors and babysat for one when the family was experiencing an emergency. Another day she walked across town to Wal-Mart with several other neighbors.

   She continues to participate in some CCL activities, such as the recent Snow Ball, and on the Cowley County Dragons Special Olympics team. She attended CCL’s Casino Night fund-raiser and served on the clean-up crew at the end of the evening.

   “Tawsha knows she has to be out in the community five hours a day, and she works well with that,” Cara said. “Some of those hours are spent in Meyer Hall. When she tried living on her own before, she got lonely. She realizes now that everyone is lonely at times and that it’s something she has to work through. She has long-distance phone service; she got a bike and rides it to Special Olympics practice; she’s making friends. Her ultimate goal is to buy a car and have even more independence.”

   “When I tried living on my own before, I was scared and not ready,” Tawsha said. “Now I love being by myself. I listen to music, I walk or I talk on the phone. I don’t really care that much for TV anymore.”

   Besides learning to drive and buying a car, Tawsha plans to begin participating in her church choir and maybe go back to school. She has dreams of getting married some day. And possibly, far in the future, she said she’d like to try improving her rocky relationship with her birth mother.

   “Tawsha has worked really hard to live a healthier lifestyle,” Cara said. “She lost weight. She realizes she needs to exercise more than she does. I hope when she gets used to it, she’ll venture farther out when walking or biking. The weather, too, will make a difference.