HELP SUPPORT PLAN OF CT CLIENTS
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What PLAN Does for Beneficiaries
          Peggy Embardo, Trust Administrator
"If you can't provide food, clothing or shelter, what can you do for my child?" We hear this question a lot from families who are thinking of setting up a trust with PLAN. Some of their loved ones live alone in the community with little support, relying on entitlement payments to cover (barely) the necessities of life. Others live in some type of supported arrangement, in which their basic needs are addressed. However, the families are well aware that they still maintain an important financial role in their loved one's life and they want to know how we are going to fill their shoes when they are gone. We have the experience, from nearly 12 years of administering trusts, to provide the answers.

When the phone rings at the PLAN office and a trust beneficiary is on the other end of the line, the most interesting and challenging part of my job begins. Sometimes the calls bring good news, a person who has not been doing well is asking for funds to attend an adult education course and talks enthusiastically about the course work. Sometimes it is a call for assistance in making an unexpected payment, such as property taxes on a car. Sometimes the request comes not from the beneficiary but someone important in their life who helps them make their request to go on a vacation or attend a local performance or sports event. Occasionally, there is an unexpected legal problem and the beneficiary doesn't know whom else to call to begin to get help.

All of the above calls have come in to the PLAN office this year, and we have helped the callers find the solutions they need, using the funds in their trust. We've allowed people to buy new beds, sofas and televisions; we have arranged for people to attend musical and sports performances; we've paid for the courses and for books and magazines which represent new enthusiasms. We've hired attorneys for complex legal problems; we've paid utility bills and analyzed them to see if better choices exist to save the beneficiary money; we've provided assistance for unexpected car and appliance repairs and the costs associated with moving.

We've provided money for a nursing home resident to have her hair done by the beautician every week instead of every month, and for fresh flowers for her room. We've arranged for a companion to visit another nursing home resident to add to her comfort and keep her alert. We have established accounts at local drug stores, with spending limits, to give beneficiaries a way to purchase everyday odds and ends. We've paid for veterinarian bills. Those beloved pets are an important part of our beneficiaries' lives, but it takes money to make sure they remain healthy.
We have made a difference in the lives of all of those people last year, and look forward to the new ways we will help in the future. When families begin to use their imaginations during the planning process, they will find that there are many ways (more than this article mentions) that a PLAN trust can make life easier for their children. We will be here to make those goals a reality.