The Quick Story of Us
Two of Sandra Graves’s 4 children were handicapped. Son Ronnie Graves was disabled in utero by
rubella and daughter Rebecca Babb was severely disabled and mentally
challenged. While searching for quality
care for her children, Sandra became acquainted with many families who shared
similar challenges and struggles. It
became apparent that the service providers available were not meeting the
community’s need. So with the support
of many families, Sandra set out to become a HCS provider. One that would push for excellence and
quality service that would shine above “the norm”. She did so in the memory of her daughter, Rebecca Babb, and founded the "All The Little
Things Count" HCS/MRLA program.
The happy year was 1997.
Since then Sandra’s program (where individuals and families are the foundation of the program) applied the knowledge learned from their special journey. Sandra, her highly qualified staff and deeply involved families have all worked together to develop a truly meaningful, responsive and caring program. To date, this program has generated the highest consumer/family satisfaction and great scores in certification audits.
A Remarkable History
"If you are unhappy with the services that are offered, start
your own," was the response Sandra Graves, parent, founder and
CEO for All the Little Things Count and All the Little Things Country
heard when she attended a meeting with the local Mental Health and Mental
Retardation Authority. It was the spring of 1997 and she had attended to
discover what habilitation services were available to assist her with the care
of her sixteen-year-old daughter, Rebecca, who had disabilities. Together with
the other parents there, she learned there were not adequate services
available. She was encouraged to develop and license her own service company.
Ms. Graves spoke with a handful of other parents in attendance and together
they decided to develop habilitation services.
Provisional licensing by the Texas Department of Mental Health and
Mental Retardation (TDMHMR) was awarded to Ms. Graves on August 29, 1997. A
barbecue and auction fund-raiser provided the $900.00 for the initial license
fee and two months of salary for the one required paid staff position, a case
manager. Ecstatic with their early success, these parents worked with faith and
diligence to continue to develop the services. The next hurdle, their
Department of Human Services (DHS) application was due in exactly ninety days.
However, Ms. Graves’s daughter, Rebecca, died suddenly on October 7, 1997
and grief stricken, she was unable to continue her efforts. The application was
due on November 30 and on Thanksgiving Day; Ms. Graves realized how
important it was to continue her efforts to allow Rebecca’s life to add
strength to those with similar needs in her community. Ms. Graves attended
training the following morning to learn how to properly complete the DHS
voluminous documents. She then set about on a marathon effort to complete the
application. Afraid her tears would ruin the documents she was completing, Ms.
Graves persevered and mailed the completed DHS application just before the
deadline.
The DHS application was immediately approved and the provisional
certification became a full contract with TDMHMR. Two weeks later and on
December 15, 1997 the first two clients were enrolled for services with All
the Little Things Count. Ms. Graves began providing services from her
home and for two years her kitchen and dining room were the offices for the
case manager to provide home and community services (HCS). This house
eventually became their first group home providing residential services for
needy individuals.
By the end of December, 1998 twenty-five individuals were
receiving HCS services including nursing, social work, case management,
attendant care, physical, occupational and speech therapies. Day habilitation
referrals to outside providers were also provided. However, parents
consistently complained that the day habilitation programs available grouped
their adult children with fourteen others in front of televisions and with
little more than crayons to occupy their days. Ms. Graves began to explore
the requirements to offer quality day habilitation services. She quickly
discovered the reason poor services existed in day habilitation is that
reimbursement is too low to sustain the program Determined that only quality
services be provided and recognizing that day habilitation is the essential
service families needed, Ms. Graves once again searched for the resources
to make a new service possible.
A tiny blue house in Angleton was leased in October 1999 and All
the Little Things Country was established and accepted the first clients
for day habilitation services. The first individuals were twenty-two years old;
one came from a nursing home and another as a graduate of the area school system.
One client’s parents had to leave employment to care for their adult child at
home because no services were available until All the Little Things Country
opened. Clients began to literally pour in and the Angleton Times newspaper
covered the phenomenal growth of these beginning services offered through All
the Little Things Country. The year closed in December 1999 with
twenty-five new individuals receiving services.
The current location on thirteen acres in Alvin was purchased a
few months later in April of 2000 and dedicated that May. Another twenty-five
individuals were receiving services before the end of December 2000. These day
habilitation services have continued to grow as families discover the quality
services and dedicated staff of All the Little Things Country.