Darrelle Will, of Westminster, describes her daughter, Megan, as “happy as can be,” always smiling and laughing.
Megan, 17, also suffers from a seizure disorder.
She can?t walk or talk, and Darrelle must puree her daughter?s food, bathe and dress her, comb her hair, brush her teeth and change her diapers.
So when the Respite Inn opened two years ago in Westminster, Darrelle found a place where her daughter could stay overnight under skilled supervision so Darrelle and her family could take a break.
That?s why she and a dozen other supporters asked the Carroll County commissioners about how to include the $25,000 grant the facility requested in its proposed 2007 budget.
“The Respite Inn has been a salvation for my family,” Darrelle said at the Tuesday budget hearing at the Carroll County Community College?s Scott Center.
Since it opened, 55 children and adults have stayed at the Respite Inn on Deer Park Road, said Heather Powell, director of support services for Change Inc., the nonprofit that runs the facility.
The organization requested the onetime grant to offset a budget deficit brought on by the three-bedroom, ranch-style home?s mortgage and renovation.
“For people who want to take care of their own children, being a caregiver day in and day out can really burn somebody out,” Powell said. “I felt really positive about the showing last night and about the outcome of our request to the commissioners.”
Allowing families short-term breaks can prevent parental meltdowns and keep children out of institutions and group homes, she said.
Wendy Hundertmark, of Westminster, takes her 13-year-old daughter, Shelbe, who has cerebral palsy, to the Respite Inn one weekend a month.
“This has been a godsend for us,” she said. “Just knowing that next weekend I will have a break allows me to cope with the stress of each day.”
