Margo Meley Success Story

"Seeds of Change" - Branching out to your own place to live.

Margo Meley

This is a story about my friend Margo Meley. Margo was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania on December 2, 1987. Margo has a biological sister, a stepsister, and a stepbrother. When I asked Margo how she obtained her services she said she asked her aunt to help her.

Margo lived with another individual for some time but wanted to be on her own.  Margo began saving money to make this happen. She then reached out to a woman by the name of Beth Morris, Beth works for Horizons, one of her jobs there is to support people in finding housing.  Beth helped Margo find her current housing in Willimantic, CT by talking with different landlords. I asked Margo if she had staff that supported her, and she said “yes but only on certain tasks. The tasks are transportation and taking her to doctor’s appointments.”


Margo has been employed for 9 years. Margo’s career started off at Price Rite but she said that the job did not work out for her. Then Margo received a call from Janice in the HR department at Horizons. Janice Informed Margo that there was an open position in the main office at the front desk in their office. Janice told Margo that she thought she would be a good fit for the position.  Margo knew that just because she was already associated with Horizons it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t have to go through the interview process like everyone else. Margo worked hard to prepare for the interview and took all the steps needed to complete the process. She is now working in the office at Horizons.  When asked what she likes about her job Margo said, “I like that the hours are good and it's flexible, I also like the community of people that I work with.” When I asked Margo what her dream job was, she said, “this is my dream job, to be a secretary.”

Another fact I learned about Margo is that she is a very big planner. She likes to write everything down on paper first before she does it. Margo creates a plan for herself by writing down the steps that she needs to complete to achieve that goal. When I asked Margo what her goals are now that she is happy with her housing and career, she said “my long-term goal is to buy a house and one of my short-term goals is to do more traveling.” This would include going to Indiana for Best Buddies.    

After interviewing Margo, it was clear that when she puts her mind to something, she sticks with it until her goal is achieved. Her determination is what makes her such a successful young lady. 

Written by Kellie Hartigan, Self-Advocate Coordinator, DDS