For Nancy Lochmeyer, updated tech helps her feel comfortable at home.

Nancy Lochmeyer enjoys living by herself.

Her Newark apartment is decorated with her favorite things and it’s a comfortable space for her and her cat Rachel.

Now, thanks to updated technology, Nancy is even more comfortable in her home.

“We think she is much better off,” said her father Bob Lockmeyer.

Nancy, who is deaf, keeps pretty busy. She enjoys shopping, works several days a week cleaning in an enclave setting through PALS and volunteers at community BINGO.

But before the upgrades,  when she was home, Nancy was using technology that was significantly outdated. When she was in her bedroom, it was difficult to know if someone was at the door.

All the assistive devices she used were on separate systems and sometimes only worked sporadically.

As Nancy began the process of transitioning from a Level One waiver to a SELF waiver, her service coordinator Tiffany Rhoads, helped them apply the waiver to fund the technology upgrades.

Bob and his wife Jutta, who live in Pataskala, were thrilled that she would be more secure and aware of what was happening in her building.

The Lockmeyers were connected with The Remote Support Specialist (RSS), which is owned and operated by the remote monitoring provider Wynn-Reeth. Technicians came to Nancy’s apartment on Aug. 1 to install the new system.

Now Nancy has new smoke alarms that flash a light when they go off and shake her bed. Her bed will also shake, and her lights will flash throughout the house, if someone comes to the door.

Nancy now has a motion sensor above her stove and an interactive panel, that will help her get help if she needs it. Her peep hole now has a video screen so she can see who is outside.

The entire system is integrated, so Nancy can get the same information, no matter where she is in the apartment.

“I’ll be much more comfortable with this,” Nancy said. “I really like it.”

Nancy is working on job development, with the goal of getting a job in the community. She’s also hoping to start going to the Licking County Family YMCA so she can swim and exercise.

Tiffany said she’s also hoping the SELF waiver will help Nancy get an iPhone, which will allow her to use several apps to communicate with her family and friends.

“We are really excited, she’ll be able to make more connections with people,” Tiffany said. “She’ll be able to be more of a part of the community.”