For Judy Swanson, Lakeside is not just a neighborhood, it’s a lifetime of memories. At 84, she is back where it all began, living at the Hume Home Assisted Living, a place woven into her family’s history. But getting here was not easy. After a stroke changed everything, Judy faced the terrifying possibility of losing her independence—until she called Senior Resources and learned about the MI Choice Medicaid Waiver program which pays for the care and services she receives while living at the Hume Home.
Judy with five generations, she has her daughter on her lap ( great grandmother, grandmother, mother, herself and her daughter)
“I have lived and worked in this neighborhood most of my life,” Judy shares. “Including working at the Hume Home as a nursing assistant many years ago. That’s where I learned how to care for people, with patience, love and respect. Also, my great-grandmother was a resident here when it was called The Old Peoples Home of Muskegon. You see, Thomas Hume built this place so that people like me would have a place to call home and that is what it is to me, home.”
Life was full—marriage, five children, decades of hard work at the paper mills. But hardships came too: three children lost in infancy, an abusive marriage, and later, health struggles. Judy persevered, including caring for her mother for 25 years while raising her own family. “We took care of each other,” she says. “My mom called me ‘mom’ all those years, her mind was going, today we might say that was dementia, but I cared for her because that is what family is supposed to do.”
Judy with her Senior Resources Care Coordinator, Katlynn
Then came the stroke. What should have been a routine hospital procedure left Judy unable to work. Her son moved in to care for her until he suffered a stroke himself. “We were both falling at home a lot,” Judy recalls. “We’d laugh and say, ‘We might be here a long time,’ because it was so hard to get up.” That is when she realized that something had to change, they needed help.
Assisted living costs were out of reach. “Even after working all my life, I couldn’t afford it,” Judy says. That’s when she called Senior Resources. Her supports coordinator, Kaitlyn, helped Judy enroll in the MI Choice Medicaid Waiver program. This program now covers her care, medications, and oxygen. “If not for this program, I am not sure where I would be,” Judy says. “It saved my life.”
Judy at home in the Hume Home
The program also helps support her son, who now lives in Judy’s old home with help from Meals on Wheels and medical transportation for his visits to doctors. “Now I don’t have to worry about him,” Judy says. “We’re both getting the care we need.”
MI Choice isn’t just financial assistance, its dignity, safety, and peace of mind. It allows older and disabled adults to remain in the home of their choice or in a familiar community setting, avoiding nursing home placement. For Judy, it meant finding a home where she could get more help. “This feels like home,” she says. “I think of my great-grandmother living here and I remember visiting her and that gives me comfort. Life can be funny like that.”
“I’m tough,” Judy says with a smile. “I have been through a lot, but I’m still here. And while I am, I will help others.” Nurses often ask her to talk to other residents who are feeling down. “If I can help someone, I want to do that,” she says. “Senior Resources has been such a help to me, and if I can give back in any way to others, I will. I’m just built like that.”