Posted on March 12, 2026
Cindy Rohrbaugh’s Personal Outcome Measures (POMs) assessment helped turn her goals for independence into a plan.
Cindy Rohrbaugh poses with her father, Glenn.
Since 2014, Cindy Rohrbaugh, 45, has lived with two Life Sharing families. The Life Sharing program at Penn-Mar’s Pennsylvania residential program provides an alternative to traditional group homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), where they can instead live with a qualified family or individual.
Raised by her late mother and grandparents, Cindy first came to Penn-Mar in 2005 when she moved into a community home. A routine request for her birth certificate revealed the name of her birth father, Glenn, who was living in a Penn-Mar residential home and working in what was then Penn-Mar’s workshop Day Program.
“I grew up without a dad in my life, but I was still curious to know him,” Cindy said. They reunited at her Penn-Mar home, an encounter that left them both utterly “speechless.” Glenn, who is now in his 70s, works in competitive, community-integrated employment, receives support services from Penn-Mar, and enjoys spending time with Cindy. They’re both grateful for the miracle that brought them together.
Cindy’s journey with Penn-Mar has provided her with residential choice, close friendships, long-standing employment opportunities, and community inclusion through its innovative person-centered approach to support services.
Penn-Mar conducts an annual Personal Outcome Measures (POMs) assessment for its residents to help identify their goals and measure progress toward achieving them. The process helps uncover what truly matters in a person’s life: their passions, relationships, health, safety, and personal rights. Through a structured interview, the assessment also identifies the supports needed to help them reach those outcomes.
Cindy Rohrbaugh poses at one of her part-time jobs, working at Saubel’s Bakery in Shrewsbury.
Overall, Cindy feels that things are going very well in her life at Penn-Mar. She has formed strong relationships with her Life Sharing family, team members, and friends. Her life has also been enriched by meaningful employment opportunities with the help of Jeannine O’Mahony, Penn-Mar’s PA Employment Support Manager.
“For the past 17 years, Cindy has been successfully employed part-time at Saubel’s Grocery Store in Shrewsbury. She also works several days a week for Chartwell’s Food Service’s contract with the Dallastown School District cafeteria, and she picks up additional shifts at Saubel’s when school is closed,” Jeannine said.
In her POMs assessment, Cindy specifically expressed two priority areas she wanted to address: a desire to improve her use of her environment and to participate more in the community.
“Cindy values independence,” said Natalie Finnegan, Community Support Manager. “She wants to be able to take advantage of all the resources in the community that interest her. This was an opportunity for us to start thinking outside the box.”
Transportation can be a hurdle to overcome for people with disabilities who have medical appointments, work, and social commitments. Penn-Mar provides transportation on weekdays to its day programs, workplaces, and homes. But Cindy must source other transportation to fill prescriptions, keep up with her doctor’s appointments, and take advantage of community events.
She has learned to problem-solve in most of these situations, but her POMs assessment revealed that this was an area of high importance to her that needed further discussion and input from Penn-Mar. She is now working with her team to investigate using Uber as a different means to help her be more independent.
From left to right: Natalie Finnegan, Cindy Rohrbaugh, and Jeannine O’Mahony.
Cindy appreciated her support team’s patience while going through the POMs assessment and felt it opened her eyes to other possibilities that she could consider with the help of person-centered supports. Recently, Cindy and Natalie reviewed the assessment again to identify what work was still needed to meet her goals.
“Penn-Mar is always looking for opportunities to improve and enhance our services,” Natalie said. “The results of Cindy’s assessment made perfect sense. It validated her need for independence and demonstrated why it is so important for us to create an individualized plan for her and all the people we support at Penn-Mar to reach their goals and build the life they want.”