Maureen’s Story
I’m sharing my journey to help your family.
I’ve always used my voice to rectify injustices. I get that from my mom, Charlotte Coll. She was a nurse educator and a medical advocate for one of her children. She was fearless when standing up for equity and justice, and I was proud of her.
I grew up in San Francisco but moved to Colorado Springs, CO to attend college. I earned my bachelor’s in Sociology in just three years, so I used the fourth year to get my master’s degree in Elementary Teaching. After college, I had a colorful career. Against all odds, I turned a condemned Victorian mansion into a successful Denver bed and breakfast. I dabbled in real estate. I also taught in Denver Public Schools.
After an initial marriage and my first son, Mark and I got married and had two boys. When my third son James was born with Down Syndrome and autism, my life began to change. I became focused (OK, maybe obsessed) with how to give him the best advantages in life. My husband Mark has been incredibly understanding about my obsession with advocacy and I am grateful for his support.
I went to a Community Centered Board (now transitioning to the term Case Management Agency) to find out what services I could get for my disabled child. Unfortunately, I discovered that the CCB hadn’t advised me to apply for a Medicaid waiver, even though James qualified. I was outraged, and became driven to learn everything I could about disability benefits. It was a tough road, but eventually, I was able to successfully navigate the system and get my son on the CES waiver.
This was a big celebration! I’d learned the hard way how difficult it is to apply for a Medicaid waiver. But the process didn’t stop there. I also had to learn how to maximize its benefits so that the funds allotted to my son wouldn’t go to waste. There were no local resources that could provide practical training on how to use a waiver. I knew parents and disabled people deserved better. I recognized that the system was working against them, not for them, and I decided to change that.
While I was raising my disabled son James, my thirst for education and my career roles also taught me a lot about the needs of the disability community. I earned a second master’s degree in Special Education and then specialized in transition-aged students. I was the teacher at Project SEARCH at Children’s Hospital Colorado and after that, was an employment vendor with the Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. During the pandemic, I also founded the nonprofit Real Life Colorado and helped to develop its Learning Zone program, a microschool immersion program for learners with complex communication and Alternative/Augmentative Communication Devices (AAC). The school is growing and is stronger than ever today.
The disability system failed me. I won’t let it fail you.
Over the years, I became known as the badass of the disability community, and parents often asked me for advice on getting a Medicaid waiver. That’s when I decided to start Navigating Disability Colorado (NDC), a for-profit advocacy company that trains people in how to successfully apply for, and maximize, a Colorado Medicaid waiver.
Today, I’m passionate about growing NDC in order to empower people to advocate for the services they may qualify for. I love my job because everyday, I help the disability community gain the knowledge, power and communication skills necessary to take charge of the system instead of being victimized by it. That’s the purpose that gets me up in the morning, and it motivates me to reach every Colorado family that is caring for a disabled family member.
“I teach caregivers how to be proactive leaders in obtaining Medicaid disability benefits on behalf of their disabled loved ones so that they can succeed in a system where many others fail.”
Maureen Welch, NDC Founder