By Andy Furman
NKyTribune staff writer
Love has no boundaries. And if you need proof, all you had to do was attend the Bill and Betsy Scheben Care Center Open House Thursday evening.
Five thousand additional square feet of space, two expanded program rooms, two additional ADA bathrooms, two secure outdoor areas and a new dedicated nursing space were the highlights of the Expansion Grand Opening at 31 Spiral Drive in Florence.
Almost forgot – Carmen Boyer.
Carmen came to the Scheben Center in August by way of Westchester, N.Y. – with the aid of her two sisters.
“Carmen is a 62-year-old I/DD individual,” sister Angie Petre told the Northern Kentucky Tribune. “I was living in North Carolina at the time, and the only way to give my sister (Carmen) a better life, was to move.”
Angie sold her North Carolina home and moved to Walton.
“We needed to find a program for Carmen,” she said. “We heard about the Bill and Betsy Scheben Care Center and felt this was a great fit.
“In fact, Carmen loves it. She’s a real social butterfly.”
The Bill and Betsy Scheben Care Center offers medical model adult day care and transportation services for the elderly and adults with intellectual and developmental (I/DD) differences.
The facility provides person-centered programs that enhance the educational, therapeutic, and social opportunities for all enrolled. The program includes group activities, community outings, and individual activities such as musical programs, gardening, Wii, films, games, crafts, speakers, and visitors.
“I drive Carmen to The Scheben Care Center twice-a-week from Walton,” Angie says. “We get there around 7:30 or 7:45 in the morning and I pick her up at around 2:45 in the afternoon.”
Carmen takes Scheben transportation the other three days – and of course she lives with sister Angie in Walton.
“Our expansion allows us to serve an additional 30 individuals with our expanded program space,” said Lisa West, executive director who has been with The Center 27 years.
“The expansion is a dream come true.”
Quite honestly, The Bill and Betsy Scheben Care Center has been a dream of Lisa’s for quite some time.
“I worked at Good Samaritan Hospital 16 years,” she recalled, “but what I really wanted was something that was fulfilling and at the same time where I could really help people.”
She remembers when the Adult Day Program made its debut in the 1980s.
“It was a medical model, with a nurse on staff,” she remembers. “And we started with around 10-12 people in that Day Program.”
Today, The Adult Care Program serves people over 16 years-of-age, who have medical, physical, social, and/or cognitive disabilities. The Center’s service-area includes residents of the seven counties that comprise Northern Kentucky – Kenton, Boone, Cambell, Grant, Pendleton, Owen and Gallatin Countries.
So why the growth?
“First,” she was quick to respond, “there is a high-level of need. Next, our staff is truly amazing. Their heart and soul are entirely in their work and our program.”
West says there is a huge need for services like those offered at the Bill and Betsy Scheben Care Center.
“That’s why,” she added, “we needed to expand. There’s a great need for these services. And a waiting list for people as well.”
Just ask Carmen Boyer. She’s living proof.