Photo by Tom Jenz
Kelly Carter
Kelly Carter
Have you ever been introduced to someone who seems happy to see you? That’s Kelly Carter, whose face shines with goodwill. Fortunately, for clients of the large nonprofit Community Care, Inc., Carter is the Program Officer. One of her key responsibilities is to oversee Community Care’s PACE program. PACE helps frail and disabled individuals age 55 and older live independently in their own homes.
One of three children, Kelly Carter was born and raised in Milwaukee. Her family lived in a house near Lincoln Park in the central city. Her parents are now in their mid-80s, and they still live there today. Her mother was a nursing assistant at St Mary’s Hospital, and her dad worked as a laborer for two different manufacturers. From kindergarten through high school, Carter attended schools in the Whitefish Bay District. She enjoyed her time at Whitefish Bay High School where the students were ethnically mixed. After graduating in 1990. Carter attended Marquette University, with a major in nursing. “I liked working in healthcare service, helping people,” she told me.
After an undergrad degree in nursing at Marquette, she got her masters degree in nursing administration from UW-Milwaukee. She was interested in community health and service and took a job in the Milwaukee Health Department where she focused on women’s breast health. Twenty-three years ago, she took a job at Community Care Inc. She started out as a nurse manager for Community’s east side group home. Twelve years ago, she joined the executive team as the program officer.
I met Carter at the PACE adult daycare facility on 33rd and Vliet in the inner city. PACE is housed in an enormous building surrounded by a tall fence of curved black steel, the gates protected by a coded lock. Our conversation took place in a small conference room before she later gave me a tour of the facility.
You’ve spent the majority of your career in service to the elderly, the disadvantaged and underserved. Why did you get into the healthcare field?
I’ve always believed in living and working in this Milwaukee community. I wanted to do more than just help people get over illness. When you are sick or disabled, you can’t always access the services you need or be aware of the services that are available. You might need an advocate along the way because the process is confusing and complex. I’ve always felt driven to help people that struggle to help themselves.
What is the nonprofit Community Care Inc. and what does it do? I believe that Community Care specializes in Long Term care, right? For example, here is the mission statement from your website—“Our mission is to help our members retain their independence and live as independently as possible for as long as possible within their communities.”
Community Care runs programs that support people over 55 who are elderly, physically or mentally disabled in some kind of way. We try to help them live in their communities and in the least restrictive environment with the most support. We know people feel better about themselves when living at home, and they also recover better. We create individual support plans that help people do that. We operate the PACE program, the Family Care Partnership, and the Family Care program.
And these three programs cover the whole Milwaukee area, right?
Even further than Milwaukee. Family Care is in 15 counties, PACE in four counties, and Partnership in nine counties. We serve around 15,000 members. Our goal is to help coordinate and implement Medicare and Medicaid government services.
You are the program officer for Community Care, a top job. But you are also in charge of the PACE adult daycare facility on Vliet Street where we are now. PACE is an acronym for the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly. I’ve read that PACE offers a benefit package that combines medical care, long-term care and prescription drugs. In other words, PACE helps the dependent elderly to live independently. How is this program carried out on a daily basis? And can you describe your responsibilities with PACE?
To be an eligible member of PACE, you have to be 55 or older, determined to be elderly, physically or mentally disabled by government assessment, and also live in a PACE county. Most members receive Medicaid and are low income. Once you enroll in PACE, you get assigned a Care team of eight professionals—a physician/nurse practitioner, a registered nurse, a master's degree social worker, physical therapist, occupational therapist, dietician, recreational therapist, and a home care representative. They do a thorough assessment of each client and create a care plan. That includes transportation needs, therapy, durable medical equipment like wheelchairs, and a plan to attend scheduled medical visits. We create this care plan based on what the client tells us they need. Community Care through PACE is responsible for paying for all those services.
We are here at the Vliet Street PACE facility, which is an adult daycare operation. Are most of your client members from the inner city and people of color? And are they here every day?
This PACE center is kind of a one stop shop. We have the CARE team, transportation, physicians, a dentist, home care department, and the adult daycare. Our members can choose to come in daily for social activities and meals. Members that come five days a week are here because their caregivers are at work. We are finding that the “new-young-old” would prefer moving around in the community. PACE serves about 530 members. Half of them are in Milwaukee, and in this facility, 65% are minorities from the inner city. We also service a large convent of nuns, the Sacred Heart Sisters, on 27th and Greenfield. We have a CARE team inside their convent. And we service three other convents.
Community Care advocates retaining an independent lifestyle for its clients. How do you go about this mission?
Independence is on a continuum based off a member’s abilities. Our high functioning members can live on their own, do grocery shopping, interacting in the community, and we might provide them with bus tickets and other transportation. For the members that are more frail, they decide who will provide care for them each day. The PACE Care team’s responsibility is to define how much independence a member is capable of when our staff consults with our members. We try to keep them connected to their relatives or caregivers or their church. Remember, the member has to sign off on the Care plan.
Let’s say I come here and tell you that I have difficulty caring for my elderly, wheelchair-ridden father, who lives alone. Can you help me care for my father, and do you provide in-home services?
Yes. First, we advise you to get option counseling for your father through the Aging and Disability Resource Center in Milwaukee. Once he is enrolled, we find out what kind of help you need. We’d meet with your father and you. Is the goal to have your father living independently at home, and we can send in caregivers? Does he want to spend each day at our day program, participating in activities and meals? He would see our physician for evaluation. We make sure you have access to our staff members. We create a caregiving schedule. We are trying to relieve the stress for you as the caregiver.
Are you in charge of the entire PACE program or just this facility?
As the program officer for Community Care Inc., I am responsible for the entire PACE program and also our Family Care Partnership program.
Community Care is a large nonprofit. How is it funded?
We are funded by government Medicare and Medicaid, and that covers a wide variety of care, supports and services. We receive a monthly captitated rate for each member, and we provide the care within that captitated rate.
After our conversation, Carter took me on a tour of the PACE facility where I observed caregivers at work including physicians, a dentist, physical and occupational therapists, an X-ray lab, and a pharmacy. The Day Care room was busy with an auction, members using fake money to bid on sports logo items from local teams.
Along the way, Carter was greeted with enthusiastic smiles and waves. She was clearly popular with her staff who appeared to be an ethnic mix of mostly women. She noted that much of the staff live in the area.
Carter left me with, “It’s not easy getting old, and you really need an advocate. Milwaukee is a resource-rich city for disabled and elderly people.”
