By Andy Furman
The Point Arc
When you have an angel on your staff, well good things will happen.
The Point/Arc has one – and yes, good things did happen.
The angel is real – Terri Angel – Registered Nurse, Support for Community Living (SCL) and Executive Director for the Covington-based non-profit which celebrated its 50th year of service in 2022.
Terri was the savior for The Point/Arc during the COVID crisis.
“I must have administered some 300 COVID tests,” she said. “I did those for Point employees as well as other local providers.”
Angel said she made house calls, supervised drive-through testing for other area providers as well as pharmacies.
“I was extra diligent,” she said, “I never let my guard down.”
And perhaps that’s why The Point/Arc – along with their 16 residential homes were able to function during the pandemic.
“I decided we were going to keep all clients home,” she said. “Then I asked anyone on staff to go on lockdown with them.”
Ten staffers did.
The Point/Arc led the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the safest plan to keep people safe.
“We were recognized by having an exclusive Zoom meeting inviting our DSPs (Direct Support Professionals) and Administration team to join the Commonwealth department heads to show their appreciation.
“A plan is not effective without having everyone on board to make it happen.”
Terri Angel did just that.
And she worked with Covington-based Gravity Diagnosis to access their on-line system to get COVIE-testing results – first in about 48 hours and then the same day of the test.
“We had about 50 percent — or about 150 people testing positive at one-time or another, from the 300-or-so tests I administered,” she said.
The biggest influence in Terri Angel’s life – easy – her grandma.
“Grandma, Vera Angel was a big, very big influence on my life,” granddaughter Terri said.
“Vera (Angel) was the first woman City Commissioner of Covington. And I was her caregiver when she was suffering with cancer. She was my inspiration to help others and become a nurse.”
Angel – the granddaughter – started in Mental Health in Minnesota, after studying at Normandale College in Bloomington (Minn.).
Hospice Care in Delaware was her next stop.
And in 1972 – October – the marriage between Terri Angel and The Point/Arc was consummated.
“I saw an ad for medication training,” she remembered, “I started part-time at The Point/Arc and became a full-time nurse several months later.”
Today she oversees both residential and case management operations at The Point/Arc.
And when The Pandemic hit – Terri Angel went into high-gear.
“I just felt I’m responsible for keeping everyone safe by helping families and participants.”
That’s not an easy task, as The Point/Arc serves 16 homes, 24-hours-a-day in-care, in residence.
Add, two four-unit apartment buildings; one home independent setting; a respite program – with a home dedicated to respite – which makes a grand-total of 17 off-campus residencies.
No other agency in Northern Kentucky has a home dedicated to respite, Angel says.
Did we fail to mention Terri Angel didn’t charge anyone in the community for her testing during COVID’s peak. “We did apply for a small grant,” she said, “but the cost is irrelevant to saving lives and reducing the spread.”
After all the testing, after the lockdowns Terri Angel says, “We’re back to normal operations.”
And Terri Angel never once tested positive for COVID throughout the entire ordeal.
Possibly because no other agency has an angel like Terri.
All she’s missing is her wings.
The Point/Arc provides opportunities to individuals with intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) to reach their highest potential educationally, residentially, socially and vocationally.