A newly established agency has kickstarted special services in the Morehead area. Amazing Opportunities Kentucky, or AOK, serves people with intellectual disabilities under the SCL Waiver and Michelle P Waiver.
LeeAnn Creech, Co-Owner and Executive Director of AOK, said the organization’s mission is to promote independence and support the lives their clients want to live.
“Not the lives that we necessarily want them to live, like a lot of service models are, but the lives that they want to live. We want people to have their best life and be part of that- see part of that and be part of that. And that this is self-serving; for me it is because there’s no greater joy and love than to see someone fill a valued role,” said Creech.
The organization, which opened its doors last year, focuses on providing community access, personal care and assistance, supported employment, and more depending on the individual’s needs and goals.
Nearly one in four clients served by the Kentucky Career Center’s Vocational Rehabilitation program have a cognitive disability. Kaitlyn Paschall, Co-Owner and Program Director at AOK, said with the help of Kentucky’s Vocational Rehab Pre-employment Transitions specialists, they were able to implement a service filling an often-overlooked role.
“She has helped guide us to be able to provide a more wrap-around service starting at ages 14 in the schools. So that helps teach kids soft skills to get them ready for employment- stuff that they may not typically learn like taxes or just how to dress appropriately. It’s a new service that nobody in this area has provided in a very long time,” said Paschall.
Creech said through her and Paschall’s combined 30 years of experience working with the disabled community, they have learned to focus on the needs of the individual- they want to focus less on the number of clients and more on the quality of care.
“The agency that, both of us, where we met, is a large agency and we saw that there was a lot of quantity over quality; and so that’s something that we’re striving not to do,” said Creech. “Even though the need is large, we want to be able to provide what we can provide and collaborate with other providers to provide those other needs.”
Referrals can be sent from an individual’s case manager or support broker to admin@aoky.org. Other resources, like supported decision-making publications, employment opportunities, and Medicaid waiver information can be found on aoky.org.