Karen & Bill Shannon

38 year-old Jim was born healthy, but had lost the ability to walk and talk by the time he was eight months old. Doctors were never able to explain what went wrong. Despite his disabilities, Jim earned a Master’s degree from MTSU and attends church every Sunday. In 2008, TennCare tried to reduce the nursing care Jim needs to say safe. TJC helped Jim’s parents, Bill and Karen, file an appeal, and campaigned to fix the nursing rules. Bill and Karen led the fight by speaking to legislators and putting together a petition against the cuts. Bill said, “TJC is almost like the proverbial David and Goliath story – they’re David, trying to fight a huge machine to protect the rights of individuals.” He continued, “Common folks like us, we don’t know what our rights really are, so these people at TJC, they’re the light at the end of the tunnel for us.”