Road to independence smoother on a three-wheeled bike
When people visit Andrea "Andi" Wilkins for the first time, she invariably does the same thing.
She gestures with her palm up, waving her hand before the visitors, asking them to introduce themselves—not to her, but to each other.
Then she intertwines her forefingers in the American Sign Language sign for friends to show that her visitors are now friends.
Wilkins is a people person, said Cristina Francis, her independent living aide. Partially deaf and moderately mentally disabled, Wilkins loves to communicate with people any way she can. And most of what she communicates is joy.
"She's happy all of the time," Francis said.
After spending most of her life in a group home in Southern California, Wilkins recently moved to Sacramento to live with the help of In Alliance, an agency that provides independent living resources for people with disabilities.
An aide is with Wilkins at all times in her town home. Her aides quickly become her friends, taking her to the park, restaurants and shopping.
"She likes to go to Disney movies. She mainly likes the popcorn and soda," Francis said.
But most of all, Wilkins enjoys the outdoors.
"We try to go outside and do something every shift I'm with her," Francis said.
When she's outside, Wilkins enjoys running races with her aides or watching others play baseball or football. When she lived in her group home, she rode a three-wheeled bike, the only one she can ride.
Since Wilkins lives on Social Security, she cannot pay for a three-wheeled bike. In Alliance workers have asked Book of Dreams readers to help pay for a new bike for Wilkins.