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Hope

Photo by Will Thomas

Hope and her family fled New Orleans in 2005 to escape Hurricane Katrina.  Settling in Memphis, she soon faced another storm in her life as she began the long and complicated process of finding care for her son Justin, age 18, who suffers from severe mental retardation, Cerebral Palsy and seizures.

In Louisiana, Justin had a nurse who cared for him while his mother worked.  Hope successfully navigated the Medicaid system in Louisiana to make certain her son had the care he required. However, in Tennessee, she could not even find a primary care physician to prescribe the home health care that was medically necessary for her son.  She found that the TennCare program was full of barriers to obtaining help for Justin.  Unable to work because Justin needed her care at home, she managed to support her family with money received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  Then the FEMA payments ended.  

Overwhelmed and very concerned about her son, Hope contacted the Tennessee Justice Center. TJC helped get a case manager for Justin and the case manager found him a primary care physician.  The physician prescribed home care nursing for Justin and Hope was able to return to work.  Later, the Tennessee Justice Center helped her enroll Justin in the mental retardation waiver program, which provides additional services not covered by TennCare so that special needs individuals like Justin can stay at home instead of living in institutions.

“I am so grateful,” said Hope. “TJC helped us to be able to start a true healing process and begin to put our lives back together.”

Unfortunately, Hope is not alone in having to fight to obtain care for her child.  There are approximately 670,000 children who depend on TennCare to have their health care needs met.  In 2001, there were approximately 198,000 children with special health care needs in Tennessee according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Hope has stood ready and willing to share her family’s story so that other families will not encounter the same difficulties that she has.

“Hope is an inspiration to me and the entire staff,” said Marjorie Bristol, the TJC attorney who worked with her.  “After all she has been through, she perseveres in advocating tirelessly for her children and for others.  Hope is more than her name; it also describes her outlook on life.”

Bristol added, “Tennessee Justice Center is proud to assist mothers like Hope and many others in their fight to obtain the services that their children require.  Their commitment and resilience are remarkable.  Hope’s vision for a more humane health system for all children and families challenges us to work harder.”

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