Montana Independent Living Project specialist to visit Lincoln next week

The Montana Independent Living Project, which provides a variety of services to promote independence for people living with disabilities in southwestern Montana, has recently started offering one-on-one services for residents in Lincoln.

MILP independent living specialist Maria Stout plans to visit with Lincoln residents Aug. 12, first at the Lincoln Library, then at Leepers Motel.

"I help people live independently in their communities by providing services with whatever they need. If you need anything, you have a disability and need to reach out, we have lots of information for you," said Stout.

Residents can visit with Stout or other MILP representatives to learn more about a variety of benefits, like SNAP and Medicaid, receive support getting information about additional tools, and learn about other MILP activities and programs.

MILP services include information and referrals, transition services, peer counseling, independent living training, and individual and systems advocacy. The organization serves 14 counties in Montana.

In addition to providing information support, MILP offers monthly programs, some of which are virtual. These include monthly veterans support groups, weekly chair pilates classes, and more. One of these programs is a men's group that started recently to try to break down stigmas and give men a space to get together. The group meets weekly online and monthly for a BBQ.

"It's a group of men, vets, guys with disabilities, homeless, just dads, or guys just having daily problems, getting everyone together to kinda break the stigma, get to understand each other, and realize we all have problems. They might not be caused from the same things, but we all feel the same," said Charles Alvarez, another independent living consultant with MILP. There's a group for providers that meets Monday evenings and a group for non-providers that meets weekly in the afternoons, added Alvarez.

"Through the CARES Act, one of the things we were able to do for people is give them tablets, whether it's to navigate state papers, Medicaid, whatever, food stamps, or if it's just to be in my men's group," said Alvarez, noting, "It's all about independence and inclusion."

One of the key services MILP offers is as a liaison for Medicaid's Self-Directed Personal Assistance Services Program, which allows qualified individuals to hire help for home services, such as bathing, dressing, eating and more. An advantage of this service is that it allows family members to be paid to provide care as parents age or other family members need support.

"Our self-direct program is to keep people out of institutions, out of nursing homes. That person becomes the boss. They can pick who they want to hire, how they want to train, the hours. We're able to get their loved ones paid to be able to help take care of them," said Alvarez.

MILP works with other organizations, such as the University of Montana Rural Institute, to provide classes to support people as they adapt to living in their community of choice. There are plans to teach one class through Veterans Affairs, said Alvarez, as well another class with Good Samaritan to support people who were experiencing homelessness but have recently found housing.

Another project MILP spearheaded in the Helena area was adaptive skating. Funded by 2019 and 2020 Community Investment Fund awards from the Rural Institute, the program offers opportunities for all ages and all abilities to participate in group ice-skating activities, including recreational and competitive hockey programs.