New Hampshire native Rebecca Neill, BS, QDDP, MHRT/c, met and married Jamie in Massachusetts. His Marine Corp career took them and their four children around the United States. Their adopted daughter was diagnosed with mild intellectual disability.
“I had to learn about her diagnoses,” Rebecca says of her inspiration to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in mental health and human services from University of Maine at Augusta in 2007.
In 1996, Jamie was medically retired from the Marines with a misdiagnosis of major depressive disorder.
“It took almost three years before he was properly diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder I,” Rebecca says.
Subsequently, Rebecca enlisted in the Navy from 2001 to 2006. Afterwards, what she went through a great deal to care for her mom and with Jamie’s diagnosis. She started on the path to her current work.
Her mom was in a New Hampshire hospital, diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Rebecca was her primary caretaker. Her sister would fly up or Jamie would come down to help her. At one point, Rebecca discussed her need for more relief with a visiting nurse.
Rebecca recalls, “I said, ‘How do we get this care? She has Medicaid and other insurance.’ I needed someone to come because I could feel myself heading for burnout.”
The nurse offered someone to come in weekly for physical/occupational therapy and help with showers and daily activities.
“Mom was in hospice stage and wanted to be home when she passed,” Rebecca says. “They could not help me.”
Her frustrated desire to give her mother the best care during her last four months was one reason Inspired Resolutions was opened in April 2019. Cara Neill, Rebecca’s daughter-in-law and now services director of the business, works with individuals, who have intellectual disabilities (ID) and developmental disabilities (DD), such as autism.
“We set up business in the Peninsula/Hampton Roads area because it wasn’t well covered,” Rebecca says.
Cara will earn her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology in May from Norfolk State University.
“Many individuals who have DD get taken advantage of,” Cara says. “We want to help avoid that and have them be able to express their human rights.”
“I want people to be resolved to take their care into their own hands and do it through their own inspiration,” Rebecca says.
Inspired Resolutions covers Williamsburg through Southside. It strives to ensure people have the services they need.
“These services are an entitlement,” Rebecca says.
With Consumer Directed (CD) services, clients hire their own staff instead of going through agencies. In this case, Rebecca and her team receive the referral.
“I contact the family/individual and do a free assessment to make sure they’re capable of running their services,” she says.
Once deemed capable, the individual/caretaker becomes the employer of record. He or she takes charge of employee paperwork, hiring and firing and all human resource functions as well as interviewing candidates.
“Many choose a family member,” Rebecca says. “The state provides full reimbursement to staff.”
CD services cover three categories: personal care, respite care and companion services.
Another service Inspired Resolutions offers is quality developmental disability professional (QDDP) services. It helps businesses maintain documentation to meet deadlines for local, state and federal agencies.
Inspired Resolutions offers monthly networking meetings with a guest speaker for professionals in any industry to come and talk about his or her business. Dinner is included.
Rebecca attributes much of her success to working out of Gather in Newport News.
“I don’t think we would have been as successful had I not obtained office space here,” she says. “It has provided a great opportunity to interact with people and different businesses.”
Opening her business and having enough agencies to sustain it is a huge milestone for Rebecca. In her free time, she vacations in Hawaii and spends time with her four grandsons. She is looking forward to a granddaughter on the way. She also has three boxers, an English bulldog and a 175-pound English Mastiff, who is gentle and obedient.
“I want this to grow as a legacy for my children and pay for my grandkids’ college education,” Rebecca says. “I want my family to have what they need when I’m gone. That’s important to me.”
TO THE POINT:
Inspired Resolutions LLC
Address: 700 Tech Center Pkwy., Ste. 125, Newport News VA 23606
Phone: 757-969-8669
Website: inspiredresolutionsvirginia.com
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