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A House Isn’t Always A Home:

A House Isn’t Always A Home:. A Perspective of Housing Needs and Residential Issues For People with Disabilities. Presenter: John Porcella, PhD Executive Director Community Living Corp. 105 south Bedford Rd Mount Kisco, NY 10549 914.241.2527 jep@communityliving.org.

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A House Isn’t Always A Home:

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  1. A House Isn’t Always A Home: A Perspective of Housing Needs and Residential Issues For People with Disabilities Presenter: John Porcella, PhD Executive Director Community Living Corp. 105 south Bedford Rd Mount Kisco, NY 10549 914.241.2527 jep@communityliving.org

  2. Community Living Corporation (CLC) • Founded 1990 as solution to closure of proprietary organization in Northern Westchester. • History of providing support to community based living for more than 20 years, long before it was fashionable! • Based upon a simple premise: The disabled have done nothing wrong – why are they treated so badly?

  3. Community Living Corporation (CLC) • Primarily a provider of residential services to people with a wide range of disabilities. • Wide Range Intellectual Deficits • Psychiatric / Neurologic Diagnoses • Dual Diagnosed (Combination of disabilities occurring concurrently)

  4. Reality of the Residential Environment • There is no “one size fits all” • “Apartment Living” • “Group Home Living” • “Independent Living” • Rental vs. Ownership Issues • Regulatory issues: program, physical plant. Example - septic requirements

  5. CLC Housing Inventory • 8 traditional single family houses with renovations. • 31 apartments. (Condo, cooperatives and rental) • All are owned with the exception of 1 townhouse. • Two consumers live alone • Five married couples • Ages from 25 to 80 with wide range of skills

  6. The physical structure as a residential reality. • Location, location, location! • Access to valued resources • Furniture, lighting, parking • Creature comforts (TV, stereo, internet access) • Neighbors must not be ignored • Willingness of the neighbors to accept us

  7. Parents and siblings as part of the residential reality. • Much more has been said than written on this subject. • Historically, this has been a powerful and vociferous group which has advocated successfully for their children. • Planning and acquisitions can not ignore this resource. • It’s not as easy as it looks!

  8. Consumer Choice & Consumer Control • Every single thing we do should be directed at maximizing the control the individual has over his or her environment by allowing them to make their own choices. These choices must be based upon the individual’s needs and abilities. Providing choice can not ever conflict with the safety or welfare of the individual.

  9. Welcome aboard the bus!

  10. You can observe a lot just by watching… (Yogi Berra) • We begin our environmental evaluation early. We listen to statements made in the earliest training modules. Sometimes we hear something like, “this all sounds nice, but I don’t think it will work with my house”, or worse, “I’m gonna’ do it my way, I think its better”. These are, invariably, warning signs that warrant immediate attention.

  11. Future Imperatives • Acceptance of people with disabilities as competent, choice making adults • Life cycle planning, aging and end of life issues. • Sustainability of the existing service model in a weakened economy and a multi billion dollar state deficit.

  12. BFF (20 yrs. +)

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