Balance, Inc.

Providing Care in Every Direction

Notes from Craig Modahl, Executive Director

Many people are aware that the inspiration for the development of Balance, Inc. came from our relationship with Kevin. He has been a part of our family longer than Sandy and I have been married. Kevin grew up at one of the state institutions and was returned to the community in 1984. A few years later Kevin moved in with us. During these past 20 years he has brought a lot of joy and adventure to our family. We watched him grow and we were able to offer him some long term, committed relationships and, we think, a pretty good life.

Kevin turned 50 years old this November. He has been struggling with his physical health these last couple of years and seems to be going through a slow decline. He has had seizures most of his life and has been on medication to control those seizures. These things can take a toll on a person over many years.

It is difficult to change gears from helping people grow and gain skills to guiding and supporting them as they decline with age and forms of dementia. At Balance, we are finding ourselves addressing this more often. As the people we serve age we need to develop new approaches to help make their lives comfortable and healthy. We strive to keep them in their home environment as long as possible by adjusting the supports we provide to meet their changing needs. We do everything we can to keep them with people who are familiar with them and their needs. It is the dedication and perseverance of the staff who have developed strong, committed relationships with our participants that want to assure the best quality of life as they advance in age.

Balance serves people from age 5 to, well, as long as they live. Our oldest participant is 84. We plan to be with each person as long as they need and as long as we are able to meet those needs. We hope you will help us with this work and support our organization in any way you can.

Thank you!