Melody Breathette was wheeled into a gathering of well-wishers bent on celebrating a "going away" party for her.
In actuality, the affair took note of a new stage in the woman's life. Breathette, a mentally handicapped woman of 37 years of age who also suffers from cerebral palsy, was moving from the confines of the Conway Human Development Center (CHDC) to the more liberating area of the Florenz Estates, an arm of Independent Living Services, a facility that holds out promise of a new life concept for the woman a place of her very own.
Hailing her new found move toward emancipation were staff members who have worked assiduously with Breathette the superintendent of CHDC, Calvin Price, social worker Sandy Moix and other staff people who shared the intimate details of working with retarded clients.
An evolution of this kind of rehabilitation results in a state of euphoria for caregivers since improvement in the life of retarded people is often calculated in small steps.
Price beamed as the woman opened a plethora of gifts.
"She is not going far in term of distance, (Florenz Estates are located on the CHDC campus) but it is an important move for her. She will be more self-sufficient," Price said.
In the confining world of retardation, the move represents light years of progress, Moix indicated. Breathette has spent virtually all her life at CHDC, being admitted by her family when she was seven years of age.
During her life in the state facility a section of the Department of Human Services she shared a bedroom with another client of similar limitations in a dormitory-like setting. Breathette can now look forward to privacy. But she will have ILS staff available around the clock to help with personal living situations beyond the her physical capabilities.
Florenz estates opened in late 2007. It contains 14 separate apartments, all with appliances. Four units are fully wheelchair accessible, a vital component for Breathette. The facility has a community room available for all of the residents to use; and it also is used for instructional purposes.
(Florenz Estates are named for Nils Florenz, a Little Rock entrepreneur who for years vigorously supported the idea of state-operated facilities to care for the retarded. Florenz's disabled daughter was the catalyst for his work in convincing the state to establish a series of human development centers around the state the facility at Conway being the largest with some 600 clients.)
It is the independent aspects of the place that is attractive for people whose lives are or have been restricted by serious liabilities.
Moix believes her client is ready for this critical attempt at independence.
"I think she will do well," Moix said. "She has been able to develop the skills necessary to live on her own terms, yet with necessary assistance. She is wholly dependent on others for her total care. Outside of a limited ability to hold small objects with a couple of fingers, she has to have staff care givers who will be assist her 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
The limitations imposed by retardation and cerebral palsy inhibits the course of her life, yet she is, as Moix paints her, "outgoing and friendly, and she is animated and seems happy watching her soap operas on television and listening to country music personalities. Her favorite, by the way, is singer Billy Joe Cyrus. And like most women, she likes to use makeup and get dressed up and going to parties and other functions on campus. She also likes to go shopping and eat out on occasion."
The woman, Moix says, seems all atwitter getting ready for the move which at this time finds the "staff at ILS is in the process of developing an individualized service plan to meet her specific needs." One effort is called "Sensory Needs and Values Program in which clients learn new skills to increase their current level of her independence.
Moix who has watched and treated the woman over the years, since 1982, in fact, is in a position to gauge her development.
"I'm really pleased to see how she has matured," the social worker said. "I've seen her grow up, seen her develop. Today she wants a place of her own, and wants privacy. And she has articulated this fact. She can hardly wait."
