My name is Kyla Claussen and I’m from Avoca, Iowa. I have an unknown progressive neuromuscular disorder that has been slowly taking skills away from me over the past five years. By March 2020, I was unable to walk independently anymore or work. Last August, I went on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and then applied for the Physical Disability Waiver and the Health and Disability Waiver.

I’m now waiting for services in my home, along with 15,956 Iowans on the waiting list for one of the waivers for people with disabilities. Most likely, I will be waiting for one to three years.

I wrote to Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) Director Kelly Garcia in February 2021 to explain how I need help in my home with homemaking, due to my disability and further decline. I get exhausted easily after routine tasks.

Director Garcia had one of the DHS income workers call me to follow up. She had seen that I was receiving food assistance and commented that it was nice I could save money that way.