Carrying the Load Together: How CIL Helped Charlene Support Her Family

The Family Disability Navigator program is one of CIL’s newer programs. It started in 2023 and has grown since then to offer a wide range of aid to our consumers and their families. One of those consumers is Charlene. Charlene is a mother of seven children and her journey with CIL has involved her getting help and resources that benefit her entire family. Before Charlene became involved with CIL, she described her life as being hectic. She often worked twelve hours a day, and between all of her daily responsibilities she also had to remember doctor’s appointments and the schedules for her children. Charlene described feeling burnt out due to all the responsibilities she had to juggle. Charlene needed someone who could help her carry the load and balance her life, and that’s where CIL came in.

Charlene was recommended to look into CIL by one of her son’s school counselors. Charlene was first directed to our Case Management program and that’s where she started her journey with CIL. She began to work with one of our project managers, Karolin, and CIL was able to help her get back on track. With help from the Family Disability Navigator program, Charlene was able to get help scheduling appointments with doctors, getting the proper medication for her children, and she was able to get a formal autism diagnosis for her son. Something she had been trying to accomplish for years, but had struggled with before CIL stepped in. Charlene is also currently working with CIL to get her eldest daughter tested and diagnosed as well. Charlene believes that getting her daughter a diagnosis while she is still young will help her get the resources she needs to succeed in life.

A big part of the work CIL has done with Charlene, and her family is helping to set up schedules and ways to work with the children’s needs at home as well. Charlene explained, “I feel a lot more confident just moving forward, being able to get them where they need to be. Because my number one job is to make sure they have everything they need, and to make sure I am setting them up for success in their adult life.” While there are still rough days, Charlene has seen significant growth in her children’s lives and in their ability to learn and thrive since she started working with CIL, and she sees things only getting better in the future.

When asked what living independently means to her and her family, Charlene said, “Having all of them together in a place that I can afford, and being able to just take care of them like I need to be.” Charlene and her family have gone through the ups and downs of life, but with CIL’s help they have been able to get themselves to a place where they can work toward their independent living journeys. CIL will continue to work with Charlene to help her and her family thrive. We look forward to seeing where their paths take them.