What a storm! Hurricane Sandy blitzed through the northeastern United States leaving a path of destruction that included statistics you may have never heard: an estimated $25,000,000,000.00 in lost business activity; $20,000,000,000 in property damage; 57,000 utility workers from outside the damaged areas; 79,000 comfort kits distributed by the Red Cross; 15 days of gasoline rationing; 820 mile wide storm; 1.3 million power outages; 20,000,000 tweets about the storm; 12,000 flight cancellations and countless numbers of un-reported acts of compassion for friends and neighbors.
Those unselfish acts of compassion were not without recognition and appreciation at Integrated Resources Inc. Medicaid Waiver In-Home Care Services. While West Virginia was not as devastated as areas hardest hit around New York City, we still experienced thousands of power and phone outages that lasted for several weeks throughout the state. With few exceptions, Integrated Resources In-Home Care providers endured hardship while showing leadership and true compassion to ensure that clients were well cared for and safe.
These care providers and their families were all affected in some way during the course of the storm. All either experienced power outages, impassable or bad roads, fallen trees or wind damage. They were all affected, but so were the people that depended on them for services. For these compassionate care givers the choice was simple. Do what is necessary to make certain that clients were safe! With that attitude, the stories that took place need to be listed in the statistics that made front page news and some of those examples are: One client was inaccessible by car, so the caregiver walked up a snow covered mountain to provide services; Some carried water to the client and then brought the client home with them for the night; Several took pre-emptive measures by making certain that clients had adequate supplies to endure the storm; One caregiver had a tree fall on their home but continued providing services to their client; Some made certain that necessary supplies like water and kerosene were on hand; many continued to work in homes that did not have phone or power even though their own families were also suffering the same hardships.
To all of you, Integrated Resources would like to say thank you for your dedication to health and welfare of the people you serve.