Meet May’s Featured Respite Provider: Lydia Blum

Meet Lydia Blum, May’s featured respite provider!

The Community Respite Program provides respite services for children and youth aged birth to 18 experiencing behavioral, emotional, medical, and/or physical challenges. This program is designed to meet specific individual and family needs while maintaining collaboration with other service providers and legal guardians. This valuable service provides families of special needs children the opportunity to balance the many challenges of life. The breaks provided allow family members time to meet their other vital family needs. Providers can be couples, single persons, or families.

How long have you been a respite provider?
I have been a respite provider for almost 3 years.

What made you want to apply to be a respite provider?
I applied to be a respite provider because my nanny position ended in early 2020 and no one was hiring with Covid. So when I saw the position I thought it would be worth looking into as I missed working with kids. (I did retail in between).

What is your favorite part of being a respite provider?
I love the flexible schedule and being able to give parents a break. I also love spending time with the kids, hanging out at the park, the drop in center, their house, etc. I like having a job that makes a difference in people’s lives. And having the kids run up to you with a grin when you pick them up is priceless.
I’m hoping to be able to buy my own house soon so I can include my goats and dogs with the kids more easily – one kid I worked with found the goats very therapeutic and I’d like to offer it to others along with the puppy I’m working on certifying as a therapy dog.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
In my free time, I enjoy serving at my church, gardening, working with my goats and dogs, riding my bicycle, and spending time with my family.

You can help support children and parents by becoming a respite provider today. For more information, please contact Kelli Degenhardt at (608) 668-2229 or kdegenhardt@fccnetwork.org.

Learn more about FCC’s community respite program here: https://www.fcconline.org/service/community-respite/.