THE GREENE FAMILY’S STORY
Ensuring Son’s Future with a Little Help and Guidance.
ACHIEVA helps a family plan a secure and happy future for their son with special needs.
Leslie and Kevin Greene have a love-filled home where they raise their 15-year-old son, Nicholas. Nicholas has Angelman Syndrome, a neuro-genetic condition that results in severe developmental delays, lack of speech, movement and balance disorders, and seizures. While Nicholas does not speak, he engages abundantly with everyone in his life.
“He’s very sociable,” Kevin said, explaining that his son loves going to the mall, take walks, and loves attending school at The Watson Institute Education Center in Sewickley. Nicholas has a curious nature. He loves navigating his iPad and exploring new toys. “He’s very inquisitive and determined,” said Leslie. “His teachers call him their little engineer.”
Like most families raising children with complex disabilities, thoughts of the future are daunting. Kevin and Leslie want a future for Nicholas that continues to be safe, healthy and satisfying. To begin planning, the Greene family turned to ACHIEVA Family Trust’s Future Planning Project, supported by United Way. Through community partnerships, United Way focuses on addressing critical needs for individuals with complex medical and behavioral disabilities, and their families.
The Greene family met with ACHIEVA Family Trust Attorney Jacki Connell and Director of Education and Outreach Maria Smith to learn about special needs trusts and other options.
“Our staff attorney reviewed the Greene’s current wills and made recommendations for the creation of a special needs trust,” said Maria. “We discussed the possible need for guardianship, future services that Nicholas might need, the importance of getting him enrolled in the Medicaid Waiver program, and how to plan for financial needs.”
The Greene family is pleased to have found a help crafting a future for the next stage in Nicholas’ life. “The meeting was very helpful, very detailed,” said Leslie, adding that she and her husband plan to work with ACHIEVA to implement the plan. “Our hope for Nicholas is a life that continues to be filled with kind, loving, compassionate people who truly care for our son as if he were their own.”
To learn more about United Way programs that support people living with disabilities, visit https://test.uwswpa.org/who-you-help/people-with-disabilities/.
