Editor’s note: This is the fourth and final story in the second installment of The Post’s Aiding Athens series, which profiles nonprofit organizations in Athens County. Check out each story for ways in which you can help.
Tucked away behind Tri-County Mental Health and Counseling Services, across the street from Athens County Fairgrounds, lies a seemingly quaint and quiet building.
It is Echoing Meadows Residential Center, housing 36 residents and their caretakers — otherwise known as their unofficial family.
A bit more distinctive than its neighbors, the center opened its doors in 1980 and has since been a certified intermediate care facility for those with intellectual disabilities. The center has a focus on non-denominational Christianity.
Though each individual faces his or her own challenges, Echoing Meadows is anything but a quiet, dreary place. Rooms are filled with bright colors, warm blankets, remote-controlled cars, photos, posters of Disney princesses and even a few multi-colored bracelets, courtesy of one special patient.
Each turn through the center’s hallway exposes another curious and smiling resident, ready to laugh, joke or play — learning a few things while they’re at it.
Because of the center’s warm nature, Activities Director Kelly Popovich said it only takes a few seconds to learn about the residents’ abilities or aspirations.
One hopes to go to Disney World someday, another can remember any date, the boy in the corner is graduating from Athens High School in the spring, the other used to be transported by his dad in the back of their old pickup truck and a woman sitting across the room makes bracelets for everyone in the building.
To become a member of the close-knit group, residents must either have what Mark Hutchinson, an administrator at Echoing Meadows, describes as an intellectual disability, or require active treatment to learn skills to function in everyday life. These include doing laundry, tying shoes, cleaning, cooking or even taking their own medicine.
Most residents are adults — the youngest is about 16-years-old — and are dually diagnosed with both an intellectual disability and a mental health disorder, said Hutchinson, Southeast Ohio regional director for Echoing Hills, which runs Echoing Meadows and other similar facilities throughout the state.
Despite these challenges, most patients can fend for themselves in one way or another.
“The biggest thing I see from visitors is them realizing that these people can do things for themselves,” said Heather Buckley, program director. “They come in and they think all they’ll be doing is care. Sometimes that may be true, but not most of the time.”
Predominantly funded by Medicare, the facility strives to provide and help patients afford the care necessary for them to grow spiritually, intellectually and independently.
To make that goal a reality, the habilitation center offers a variety of services —music, speech, physical and pool therapy, devotionals, field trips to football and basketball games, concerts and even church. To avoid any confusion, the center keeps a rigorous schedule.
“We call it a habilitation center, because at rehabilitation centers, they teach people things they have already done before; here, we are teaching people new things,” Popovich said. “Our house is a center that teaches things that most of us learned growing up that these people never had the chance to learn.”
In Hutchinson’s 27 years of service, 10 to 12 people have left the center to live in their own apartments or relocate to smaller residences. Others, however, have been at the center their entire life or since the center has been open.
“Some people here might be completely capable and independent,” Buckley said. “But mentally, they just might not be ready to leave. Most residents here are in it for the long haul.”
And so are the center’s employees.
“For me, it’s the people that make it worth it,” Hutchinson said. “I can say 99 percent of the time I love my job. In a lot of ways, we’re not technically family, but in a lot of ways, we are. We all age together.”
Buckley said she “fell into the position” after offering her services at a number of other assisted living residences in Ohio. After 10 years of being a part of the Meadows family, however, she has never looked back.
“If you ask anyone, that’s why (we) stay – the residents (we) work with,” she said. “The people really do make it a joy to work here. They make it worth it.”
Though each service facility is different, Hutchinson said Echoing Meadows encourages employees to be more than caretakers but peers as well. That might be the reason some invite patients to join them on holidays, or visit on their days off to take residents to the movies or a show, especially those who might not have visitors on a regular basis.
“We do try to avoid or discourage anyone from having favorites, even if we do,” Buckley said. “We try to be fair to everyone.”
Though it’s hard to tell what days will be good or bad, Popovich said she loves working at Echoing Meadows, as every shift involves a bit of paperwork and a whole lot of fun.
“It’s not work when you love your job,” she said.
To find out how you can help Echoing Meadows, call (740) 594-3541.
RESIDENT BIOS:
Eli Conover:
“He is such a kid. He’s 19 and sill in high school. He cracks jokes; he’ll tap you when you’re walking around and laugh. He’s really easy to joke around with. The simplest things make him happy and laugh a lot. He is so much fun; he’s a blast and he loves basketball games.” — Activities Director, Kelly Popovich
Bonnie Long:
“Everyone that lives here are big kids at heart, including Bonnie. She’ll call you sweetie; she’ll call you honey. When you’re new, she likes to play games with you, too. She is a really big sweetheart and is a mom-type figure here. … I don’t know a better way to explain her.” —Popovich
Carrie Seymour:
“Carrie is very creative. If you notice, there are necklaces and bracelets everywhere. She loves to make things for people. She is a very caring person. She will help do anything that you ask of her. She participates 100 percent. She’s just really nice.
They’re all caring; they all have really big hearts, and you can see that in her. She’s a really hard worker. She puts all of her effort in everything, and you can tell she genuinely likes to doit.” —Popovich
J.T. Ding:
“He is the biggest jokester out of all of our residents. He is another one that likes to play tricks with you. When I first started working here, a lot of people would kind of brush him off because you can’t understand him well … he has a tough time getting words out. But he is very funny, and he finds everything funny … you don’t really have to do anything (to make him) laugh. He loves remote control cars; he has about three or four in his room, if not more. He’ll play tricks, too, but he knows when to be serious.” —Popovich
Brittany Anderson:
“She is a great resident. It’s like having a little sister sometimes. She is very smart and independent. She is very much a teenager. She gets a little attitude sometimes, but she always helps out. She works really hard. She’s also an aunt or mother figure around here.” —Popovich
Norman Karkalik:
“He’s been here since the doorsopened. He can talk your ear off and can remember dates really well.” — Program Director Heather Buckley
lf328610@ohiou.edu
