Meet Brandy Foltz. One of thousands of people served by the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
Brandy lives with her Aunt, Dorene, who is also her provider and guardian. Brandy has struggled with health concerns the last couple of years. She used to be on the go and up for anything but there has been a steady decline over the past two years, the Service & Support Specialist assigned to her said. Dorene is always trying to get Brandy to go out and have some fun or offering a wide variety of activities in the home, but Brandy would always say she just wants to sleep.
During a recent visit, her Service & Support Specialist from the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities asked Brandy what motivates her. The response was simple: Seeing her boyfriend. Even more than that, she said, she loves to sing and dance, especially when Gene Zenz is performing at the Wings Station in Swanton.
“Brandy is my Vanna White when I’m playing at the Wings Station,” Gene said. “I open my stage to anybody that wants to come up. When Brandy comes up and she is always having such a great time and singing with me that my wife and I ended up buying her a microphone. I don’t plug it in, of course, but she’s up there having a blast whenever I play.”
The Service & Support Specialist said she felt that it was important to see Brandy in her favorite element, at Wings Station with Gene Zenz playing the hits. She arrived and discovered Brandy next to Gene singing and dancing along. Sing and dance she did with her boyfriend Keith, who also happens to be a very close friend of Gene’s, and later even dragging her SSA to the dance floor with her!
“It’s an honor,” Gene said of his music being such a great escape for Brandy. “She’s a sweetheart.”