Chris's Routine

He is awakened early and fed his 'breakfast' through his stomach tube, then bathed, shaved and changed. The staff also attaches an amplifier with earphones. He is often in bed much of the morning, then watches his movies in the afternoon. He alternates between being in bed - and being turned regularly - with sitting in his wheelchair, to avoid bedsores. The staff also take him to his doctor appointments. 

He got a new wheelchair in 2024, so it's easier for the staff to take him to appointments and to take him on walks through the community.

He usually watches a movie or TV in the evening and has his 'dinner.' He goes to bed early and generally sleeps soundly through the night.

In normal times, we visit him once or twice a week, usually on Saturday or Sunday. In addition his old roommate Alex Crespo and her son Elifel often visit on the weekends, as does our friend and Chris's godmother, Patricia Bryant. 

 

Chris's Group Home

It had become more and more obvious, over the years, that as good as Chris's caregiver situation was, he needed to be in a permanent setting, with an organization that has the team, expertise and infrastructure to take care of him for the long run. We were very fortunate to connect with Makom, originally called the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes. Chris moved into their Torchinsky Home in October 2014.

The address:

1028 Cresthaven
Silver Spring, MD 20903
301-445-1259

The home has three other residents and always has at least two staffers in waking hours. In much of the daytime, Chris is the only resident there and has his own caregiver. Another staffer stays overnight, checking on the residents regularly. The staff are all highly professional, caring, expert at their jobs.

In normal times the staff take the residents on outings, sometimes with residents of other nearby group homes. 

 
We expected a difficult transition, but Chris seemed at home from the very first day - in large part, because of the professionalism and caring nature of the staff. When he had his setback with seizures in January 2015, he was away from the group home for about nine months. His return in late October was relatively easy and comfortable. The group home has adapted well to all of his setbacks. And he seems truly happy at home.

Chris's Finances

Chris and I share a checking account at Truist (formerly Suntrust, which is what our current checks still say) . It’s a guardianship type account in his name “by Bill Perkins.” I work mainly with Truist here in Friendship Heights, on Wisconsin at the corner of Willard, just a couple of blocks from our apartment.

With this type of account, it is not difficult to change the ownership to “by” whoever his guardian becomes. I gather that the bank just needs evidence of the changing guardianship. The designation of the next guardian in my Will should be adequate for the change in the account and for a new ATM card to take cash directly from his account. The advantage of this type of account is that Chris does not have to be able to sign any documents to make the change.

His Social Security check is deposited directly into this account, and his monthly payments to Makom are taken automatically from it.

We write a check every month to ALCO (which provides Chris's meds to the group home). There are occasionally other bills for doctors and treatments not covered by Medicaid. We provide most of his personal products for the group home (bandages for his stomach tube, soap, shampoo, lotions, wipes, etc.), usually by ordering them on Amazon, and we give the group home cash for his account, which they use for their outings or other expenses. His Medicare and Medicaid cover most of his medical expenses, except for some special dental work or need for new equipment, like the hospital bed.

There are more details about his finances and his checking account in a binder in my book case marked Chris.