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Empowering people with disabilities to live an incredible ordinary life.
Episodes
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Download a FREE copy of my “Life Planning 101 Guide” to start your loved one's Life Plan Now: https://www.empoweringability.org/life-planning-guide/
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Ever wonder what it's really like for our loved ones to live in group homes for adults with disabilities?
Let me tell you, it's a tough reality.
In my latest podcast, "What’s It Like to Live in Group Homes for Adults With Disabilities," we dive into Chris' story. Chris' journey will open your eyes to the challenges our loved ones face every day. From lack of choice to loss of control, Chris' experience is a wake-up call.
But here's the thing: You wouldn't want this life for yourself, and neither do I for our loved ones. They deserve better.
Ready to make a difference in your loved one's life? Listen to the podcast and discover how we can build a brighter future together.
About Eric Goll:
Welcome to Empowering Ability! I'm Eric Goll, and my mission is to help you make sure your loved one with an intellectual/developmental disability lives an Awesome Ordinary Life! As a family member and coach, I support families touched by autism/ developmental disabilities. I provide the knowledge and tools to cultivate an awesome, ordinary life for your loved ones, ensuring their care and support now and in the future.
🎁 Download my FREE “7 Strategies for More Independence” guide to boost your loved one's independence: https://www.empoweringability.org/independence-tips/
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Friday Sep 29, 2023
Friday Sep 29, 2023
I know you want your loved one with a disability to be safe and well cared for in the future...
And... you might be thinking that a group home and/or day program is the answer.
But... I want to share something with you that I heard from a conversation with a government agency director that might just shake your entire belief system.
In a word: It's dangerous.
Curious? Concerned? You should be.
Listen to this short episode, where I uncover the dangers of group homes and day programs for your loved one and give you a better alternative.
With gratitude,
Eric
P.S. Transform worry into action: secure an amazing future for your loved one with a developmental disability:
Register for the Life Plan Workshop [FREE]
Friday Feb 10, 2023
Friday Feb 10, 2023
You might agree with me, or you might disagree with me. But, you must consider the truth of the living environment and experience of the person when we group people with disabilities and force them to live together.
It's also helpful to hear straight from someone with lived experience, so here's what a person shared with me about their experience living in a group home:
"I have a developmental disability and have lived in an extremely toxic group home. People who are placed in group homes don't have the right to pick and choose whom they get to live with, which can create hostility.
I have been yelled at by both staff and roommates, as well as assaulted by roommates. After leaving that group home, I chose to find my place to live with minimal support.
To this day, I have never looked back. I have the freedom to do what I want and eat what and when I want, and if I ever decide I want a roommate I will have the freedom to choose whom I want to live with me."
In this video, I share why group homes create a poor living environment, and how you can create a better living environment and home for your loved one.
P.S. Want to create an Awesome Ordinary Life with your loved one?!
Click the link below to join our free upcoming workshop:
Sunday Dec 26, 2021
Sunday Dec 26, 2021
Charlotte wanted to support her son, Jamie, to move out into his own home but wasn’t sure how. I had the pleasure of working with Charlotte and Jamie to build an “Awesome Ordinary” life vision in my coaching programs. And recently, Jamie moved into his own home! I had the opportunity to catch up with Charlotte to learn about Jamie’s progress and how they did it!
CLICK HERE to join the waitlist for the Life Plan Coaching Program.
I’d love it if you left a kind comment below!
Wednesday Oct 10, 2018
Wednesday Oct 10, 2018
Learn from world class experts on housing for people with developmental disability.
I’m excited to bring you this podcast/ blog episode on the best of creating a home for people with intellectual/ developmental disabilities (IDD). In this episode, I have compiled audio clips that provide insights from 9 interviews I’ve completed with guests on creating a home for people with disabilities, along with my insights as a family coach. My desire to share this with you also comes from the experience of supporting my sister (Sarah) to create a home of her own over the last year. On July 4th 2018, Sarah moved out of our parent’s home and became roommates with me. This is Sarah’s first time living in a home of her own. There has been many events along the way that have come with incredible growth for everyone in our family, and support network.
9 Insights to Creating a Home Episode (I.e. Best of Home Episode)
This episode is a collection of insights shared by 9 guests who I consider as experts in the area of creating a home. Each guest has either directly been involved in creating a home for people with disabilities and/ or has evaluated housing services for people with disabilities. I’ve constructed this episode in a way that shares what I believe will lead to the best outcomes for people with disabilities and their families. You may agree or disagree with the perspectives shared in this episode, however, I invite you to consider these perspectives to determine what is true for you.
You will notice that I am using the language creating a home vs housing. I do this because housing refers to the physical building, and the physical building is only one component of what must be considered when creating a home for a person with a disability. When creating a home we must also consider the person’s other needs; their supports, their relationships, and what they will be doing once they are living in the space, etc..
Creating Your Home Workbook (Free)
Additionally, I have updated the ‘Creating Your Home Workbook’, to include these insights and perspectives. The original workbook was downloaded over 100 times, and I’ve sent the updated version to those of you who have already downloaded the original workbook. This workbook is designed to guide your thinking to create the best home for an individual with a disability, and to encourage you to take the first steps to make this home a reality!
Claim your FREE 'Creating Your Home Workbook!
The 'Housing' Problem:
If you are reading this blog you intuitively know that there are many additional considerations for a person with an intellectual/ developmental disability (IDD) when creating a home. Supports that exist to help vary by jurisdiction globally. Where I live, in Ontario Canada there is what many would call a housing crisis. As of 2016, the Ontario Government Ministry of Community and Social Services was supporting approximately 18,000 people with a developmental disability in group homes and other supported living, and an additional 9,700 people were on a waiting list for residential supports. So, the reported demand for residential housing support is over 50% greater than the supply. The demand is likely higher than reported because it obviously doesn’t include people who have not registered for the list. Reference: (The Toronto Star, 2016)
In many areas around the world there are long waiting list for people with a developmental disability in search of government supported housing. As you continue to read, I am going to outline that government supported housing is actually not the optimal solution for an individual with an intellectual/ developmental disability (IDD) in the majority of cases. You are better off designing and creating an individualized home that meets the desires and needs of the individual, which provides them control over their life.
9 Insights on Creating a Home for a Person with a Disability
1) The individualized one person at a time option is the best option for people.
(Michael Kendrick (PhD) is a well-known international consultant in Human Services. Michael is involved in consulting, education and evaluative work with many governments, private agencies, advocacy groups, community organizations, universities and colleges across the globe.)
In episode #047 I ask guest Michael Kendrick, “Why is investment in group homes an outdated idea?”
In Summary Michael Answers:
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Group Homes are based on the assumption that people with disabilities should live together. We [everyone else] chose to live with people we are compatible with.
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Group homes are forced shared living, and this often creates a stressful living situation.
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Investment in group homes creates the idea that it is the only option for people.
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Individualized one person at a time is much better because it gives you much more choice.
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The group home option is no longer at the leading edge. It is a dying service model.
Many jurisdictions have a freeze on the growth of segregated living across the globe.
2) The people living in group homes want a home of their own.
(Lynne Seagle, CEO of Hope House Foundation, a not-for-profit organization started in 1964 by family members, whom had sons and daughters with developmental disabilities, in Virginia, USA.)
Paraphrasing from podcast episode #045 Lynne Seagle shares,
“…finding out people didn’t want to live in group homes started with a survey. The survey asked the question, ‘Does everyone like where they are living?’ Everyone said yes. It was odd to ask 120 some folks a personal question and get the same answer. We then re-worded the question to, ‘How do you want to live?’. And, the flood gates opened. People answered 1 of 3 ways, from most dominant to least; 1) I want a home of my own, 2) people wanted a job (most people were in day programs or workshops), and 3) friendship and romance.
Lynne continues, “We [Hope House] had defined excellence as meeting all the rules – [our] paperwork was clean, [we had] no employee grievances, well-kept homes, and low staff turnover. We were looked at as the model in Virginia, USA. BUT, when we gathered these themes [truths] we reviewed our program plans and not one program plan addressed these needs of people. This was a daunting realization for our organization.”
As I reflected on my conversations with Lynne Seagle and Michael Kendrick, I thought about what it would look and feel like to live in a group home. I would be forced to live with people that I don’t know, and many of my freedoms that I enjoy would be taken away. I wouldn't always be able to do what I want to do, when I want to do it. I’d lose control of who is entering my home. This sounds terrible, and it is. Now to help you think about this further, there are similarities between group home living and living in a nursing home, or retirement home. When you think about living in a nursing home or retirement home do you get excited about the experience?
An important point to make here is that it is the model and system of group living that is oppressing people, not the people working in these models. The people are typically some of the most kind and caring people in the world. It is the model and system we need to think differently about.
3) Creating a home is about building a life, the house is only part of the picture.
(Ron Pruessen, is a father to Caroline, who has a developmental disability, is a member of Opportunities Mississauga, and he is the Chair of the Ontario Developmental Services Housing Task Force. The Ontario Developmental Services Housing Task Force was given $3MM in annualized funding, which has funded 18 pilot projects from the 200 proposals submitted.)
In episode #016 I ask Ron Pruessen, “As father, someone that is involved with a family group, and the housing task force what have you learned along the journey about housing?”
Ron shares, “There has been a lot of learning and frustration. The Government [of Ontario] is not doing enough and has a limited menu of things that they are doing [in housing]. There are many great ideas at the grass roots level. The variety of ideas is enormous, people have been extremely creative in imaging their futures. Individuals have been doing the visioning, and they see the possibilities out there.”
[In my opinion, this highlights the importance of individual options.]
Ron shares, the most significant example of creativity he has seen is building partnerships. The community can provide the best solutions. Not just because you can mobilize financial resources, but also because you can develop a wealth of opportunities (educational, social, employment), and this is incredibly important. The house is an important part of the picture, but it isn't the whole solution. Community connections improve quality of life, but the government can't do this, we have to do this.
Ron shares important insights in episode #016, which I have summarized above. However, there is one point that we discussed in that I do not completely agree with, and I failed to address this point previously. Ron shares, “I think the assumption for many years is that this [housing for people with a disability] is a government responsibility. It is the equivalent saying people need health care, which is provincially funded in the province of Ontario…. It is the equivalent of what we do for senior citizens in providing pensions and support for housing opportunities. It is a government responsibility, there is no question about it, I would argue. And, I don’t think the government isn’t doing enough. But, it is also a community responsibility…. What the community can do will provide better solutions to the problems.”
I agree with Ron’s comments that many people do hold the assumption that ‘Housing’ for people with disabilities is a government responsibility. This is the mindset that many of us continue to hold and it is perpetuating the ‘crisis’ state many families find themselves in. I disagree that creating a home is fully a government responsibility. Here is the reason why... When we [families] hold the assumption that the government is responsible for housing for our loved one with an IDD we give away the power that we have. We can put ourselves in a helpless state, or victim state. When we have hold this mindset that the government is responsible we accept the menu of sub-optimal options that the government provides us, and this puts us at the mercy of long waitlists, in many jurisdictions. And, this is a waitlist for sub-optimal options! If we hold the mindset that the government is responsible for creating a home for our loved one we are at the mercy of the government, and we give up our control. The good news is that we can take our power back. If families are feeling like a victim of a ‘housing crisis’ [i.e. you are waiting for government solutions], I invite you to consider making a choice to become a creator and to take your power back. In other words, the idea here is an invitation to take an active role in creating a home, vs a passive role waiting for a sub-optimal government solution.
On the flip side of this point, I agree with Ron in that we need to keep advocating to the government that more funding is needed to support our families in implementing/ funding our one person at a time solutions to creating a home. I believe Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a possible solution to the poverty situation that many people with a disability face. A realization that I have come to is that, the government isn’t going to solve our problems, but they can be a part of the solution.
[If you want to learn more about UBI I recommend listing to Sam Harris’s interview with Andrew Yang on the Waking up Podcast.]
4) Give people their own front door, and separate housing and supports.
(Chris Woodhead is the Group Director of Housing and Business Development for Dimensions UK. Dimensions UK supports 5,000 with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).)
In my interview with Chris, In episode #025, he shares, “Dimensions UK’s aspiration is for people to have their own front door. Not all of Dimensions UK’s accommodation is in line with this aspiration at this time. For example, some housing is larger scale accommodation with 10 people living in one large accommodation, but over time Dimensions UK looking to remodel for a smaller scale more personalized approach. Housing and support are generally separate. Dimensions holds a core value that where you live is important to quality of life (health and wellbeing), but people should be able to choose who supports them. You shouldn’t have to move if you are unhappy with your support. There is a delineation between the tenancy agreement and the support contract. We operate around choice and control. If we get their housing right, and we get their support right then we hope they will continue to choose us.”
Chris also shares the Activate Model they have been piloting, which considers 8 different domains in each person’s life; 1) Physical health and wellbeing, 2) Communication and social interaction, 3) The physical environment, 4) Skills, 5) Relationships, 6) Service Staff, 7) Service Management, 8) Wider organizations. [Again, the physical environment (the house) is just a component of the solution.] The early results of this model in practice resulted in a 60% reduction in challenging behaviour, and an increase in satisfaction for support staff. If you would like to learn more about the research visit the Dimensions UK website.
5) Housing is a Community Issue.
(Janet Klees has been involved in the lives of people with disabilities, their families, and allies in community for over 30 years. Currently, Janet is the Executive Director Durham Region Family Resources and Supports. Janet is the author of three books which are directly rooted in her experience with families, (We Come Bearing Gifts; Our Presence has Roots; Deohaeko Decades).
In episode #022, Janet shares, "Housing is a community issue, not a disability issue. In our most recent housing project, we partnered with Brockville and District Association for Community Involvement on a housing project called, ‘Housing is a Community Issue’. We asked families who were interested in housing to join us in discovering housing solutions together and 35 families showed up. This is incredible because we told the families up front that we don’t have any money to give. It shows how understanding families are that they are going to be part of the solution. Even in this housing crisis, people are still finding housing. With our project, we are thinking about what are the ways that people are finding to build, buy, rent, and to figure out housing. Then asking, ‘why can't these ways fit families that are looking for housing.'
This is an affordability issue, not a disability issue. If people need renovations it is a cost issue. We need to ally ourselves with all the people that are struggling for housing. There are organizations like Habitat for Humanity, and Options for Homes that we can ally with. If the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) is involved in housing they build a service, not a home. Families only have to think about their own son or daughter and think about works best.”
An important observation from Janet, “The change comes when the family realizes that this is their issue to work on.”
7 recommendations from Durham Region Families for for all of us (Government, organizations, and families) to think about as we work toward creating a good life for people with disabilities.
1. Home, housing and support are 3 different things and must be thought of separately.
2. Most housing challenges are affordability, not disability.
3. People with disability contribute to their communities, they are not a burden.
4.Getting good housing and support doesn't mean taking away the individual’s control of their life.
5.Providing renovation dollars allows families to be creative with their current home today (stabilize current situation) and allows for flexible housing in the future.
6. Stop funding congregated mega projects for people with disabilities, and disabilities / seniors. Commit to typical housing options and neighbourhoods.
7. Where there are families that are willing to create a home in community the government needs to support with resources. These are cheapest, most effective models, and they are currently the least funded [in Ontario, Canada].
6) A coach or independent facilitator can support you to create and implement your vision for creating a home (and a life).
(Jessica Cave, Creative Housing Supports Coordinator at Bridges to Belonging in Kitchener, Ontario. Jessica supports people with developmental disabilities and their families who are looking to make the next move in their life.)
In episode #031, Jessica shares that she supports families by helping to figure out what is best for the individual. Her organization starts with the belief that people can live in the community, and that they have the resources and readiness to make it happen. In other words, they start from a place of capability and abundance, which fuels us as creators!
Jessica takes a person directed approach and works directly with families in the Waterloo Region helping them to take this new mindset, and she facilitates the family through creating their vision for housing. Once the vision is created Jessica helps the family to think about what resources the family already has, such as, friends, community, support, and financial. Then they will think about and take the next steps are to bring the plan to life!
7) Creating a Vision: The Best Home for the Individual
(Marg McLean, Executive Director of Community Living St. Marys, and her team have been helping people with disabilities create their home, and support solutions since the 1980's when people were leaving institutions.)
In episode #013, I ask Marg “When thinking about creating a home, what should families be considering?”
Marg shares that people are going on the waitlist [for housing in Ontario, Canada] without thinking, talking, and planning what an ideal home looks like for them. (Note: This is exactly what my family did at the start of our housing search for my sister. Your family is not alone if this is the situation you are in currently.) What works well is for families to come up with a vision of what would be a good home in community.
Marg provides 4 guiding questions to begin your thinking on creating a vision for home:
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Where do you want to live?
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What kind of building do you want to live in?
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Who do you want to live with?
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What supports will be needed for your home?
[Note: the free ‘Creating Your Home Workbook’ includes these questions along with other questions and exercises to guide you in creating your vision for your home.]
Also, in Episode #013 Marg shares the story of 3 individuals that her organization supported to create their home. I also share my previous experience of living with my friend, who has a disability. These stories might just give you some ideas and I recommend you listen to this episode!
8) No one can tell you the right answer. You have to figure it out for yourself!
(Keenan Wellar is the Co-leader of LiveWorkPlay, a developmental service agency that works to facilitate community connections and relationships in Ottawa, ON.)
In episode #017 Keenan shares his reply to families that ask him, “What should we do in housing?”
Keenan shares that this is a question is deeply personal, and it isn’t a question that he can directly answer for a question. So, when asked this question, Keenan takes a coach approach by asking a lot of questions in order to draw out the best answer for that family. A couple of questions that Keenan will ask are;
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Where do most citizens tend to live in your community?
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What are the barriers the barriers to living in 'ordinary' housing? Are they actually barriers?
Keenan also shares that he will guide families through a 'thought experiment' by considering what it would look and feel like to move in to an apartment, which is a typical first home for many of us moving out of our family home for the first time.
[This is included as an exercise in the free ‘Creating Your Home Workbook’]
9) Be a creator: Start conversations, build relationships, and uncover community resources.
(Alice Mainland is the mother to Michael Mainland, who has a developmental disability. Michael is 39 years old, has a home of his own, a job, and a life in community)
In episode #023 Alice Mainland shares the story of her family’s journey to create an ordinary life with her son Michael. What I am highlighting from my conversation with Alice, is the creator mindset that she brought to the challenges that her family faced.
In summary from my conversation with Alice, 2 months before her son with an intellectual/ developmental disability (IDD), Michael, graduated from high school, Alice realized they had a problem; there would be nothing for Michael once school ended, and one of his parents would have to stay home to support Michael. As a result, the family would drop down to a single income. Alice started making phone calls to various support agencies, local government, and basically anyone with a phone number that might be able to help. The people she called were willing to help! With the support of a few agencies the family was able to piece together support for Michael, which allowed the family to stay a two-income family. It was a patchwork, but it was a patchwork that worked because people wanted to help.”
Later in the podcast episode Alice shares, “At 29, Michael had the opportunity to move out of [his parents] home because of a conversation 4 -5 years earlier when I was searching for support for Michael.”
Alice shares, “You don’t know what resources are available to you until you ask. “
Resources:
Thursday Oct 19, 2017
Thursday Oct 19, 2017
Learn how the OPZ family care system works, and hear Toni Smit's foster family experience. Also, hear the benefits and drawbacks of being a foster family.
Geel Belgium and OPZ Family Care:
The family care system in Geel Belgium evolved in the 1300's from the local legend for St. Dymphna. It was thought that St. Dymphna could cure any illness, and many people traveled to Geel to be cured, and ended up in the care of the church. When there was no more room left in the church families in Geel began caring for the ill. (For more on the Legend of St. Dymphna, listen to Episode #019 with Jackie Goldstein.) Today, the system provides formalized public psychiatric care and is called OPZ.
On the podcast Toni shares:
The OPZ patients can become boarders with foster families, and they have a 6 week orientation period to see how a the boarder adjusts to live with a foster family. If they do well in an orientation home then the OPZ tries to find a foster family. If a foster family is found, the boarder and foster family have the opportunity to get to know each other for a few days.
“You try to receive boarders into your family as you would your son or daughter. The idea is to give people a real home for the long term.”
Toni and her husband consider her boarders her step sons and they integrate their boarders completely into the family, and the neighbourhood.
Over the last 20 years, they’ve had 4 boarders, and they have stayed as long as they wanted. Their current boarder, Luke, has lived with Toni and her husband for the last 14 years.
Why did you become a foster family?
Toni Shares:
“I’ve always been a foster mother.”
There has always been other family members living with Toni and her partner. When Toni eventually settled in Geel her 84-year-old neighbour had a boarder from the OPZ. The neighbour couldn’t support the boarder anymore, and eventually the boarder ended up living with Toni and her husband. This was 20 years ago, and at the time there were 3,000 boarders living with families, and now there are only 300.
Why is there a decline in boarders?
Toni Shares:
"The modern way of life. The man and the woman of the household are working. 20 years ago, there were a lot of farms and often the woman stayed at home. The combination of someone always being home, and the need for help to do the work on the farm created this opportunity that was mutually beneficial. Many younger families do not even know about the OPZ, and if they do they are likely both working, and it might not make sense for them. There are also more care possibilities now that give people more choice on where they can live."
What are the benefits of being a foster family?
Toni shares:
“Love”
It gives Toni and her husband a lot of joy and happiness. There is always someone home and it helps to give them a cozy home. It gives Toni someone to talk to, and to take care of. It is also a gratifying experience seeing the boarder grow and take on a lot more then they use to.
Toni also shares that you start thinking about life completely differently.
"Mental illness is not a contagious disease, it is an illness and it can happen to anyone. My son had an accident and now he is mentally ill. He has changed completely, and has a completely different character and you have to get used to those things."
Why shouldn't someone become a foster family?
Toni is very insistent that families should not take in a boarder as a financial solution. This is the wrong reason to take in a boarder. You do receive money for the boarder, but it doesn’t cover the costs that you have.
Also, Toni shares, "Don’t do it if you can’t accept them as part of the family."
What I took away from this conversation with Toni is that, being an relationship with her boarders has given her life meaning in a way that she wouldn't get any other way. I thank Toni for coming on the podcast and sharing her life experiences as a foster family!
Love & Respect,
Eric
Resources:
Email Toni for a conversation: toni120@.com
If you received value from this content please leave me a review on iTunes. By leaving a 5 star review on iTunes you make the Empowering Ability Podcast more discoverable, and more families will benefit. Click Here To Leave a Review on iTunes
The Empowering Ability Podcast is available on iTunes and various other apps so that you can listen while on the go from your smartphone!
Tuesday Oct 03, 2017
Tuesday Oct 03, 2017
Jessica and I discuss her approach to helping families create a home, lessons learned from the Be At Home Creative Housing Supports project , innovative housing solutions, overcoming barriers to housing, as well as some great resources.
This week’s guest on the Empowering Ability Podcast/ Blog is Jessica Cave, Creative Housing Supports Coordinator at Bridges to Belonging in Kitchener, Ontario. Jessica supports people with developmental disabilities and their families who are looking to make the next move in their life.
A New Mindset
An article in the Bridges to Belonging 2016-2017 Annual Report written by John Lord shares, the flipped assumptions of the Be At Home Housing Supports Project.
“In reflecting on the roots of this initiative, Cameron Dearlove, executive director of Bridges to Belonging, noted how important it was to engage in “upside down thinking,” where we assume that something is the case and build reality around that. We wondered, says Cameron, “if it might be possible to flip the assumptions about housing and people with developmental disabilities. Traditionally, we have assumed that people could not live away from parents until they were ‘ready’ or until all resources were in place.” The Be At Home Project assumes that people can live in the community and that they have the resources and readiness to make it happen.”
Jessica takes a person directed approach and works directly with families in the Waterloo Region helping them to take this new mindset, and facilitates the family through creating their vision for housing.
Some of the questions asked in the visioning process are:
What type of home do you want (Apartment, single dwelling, etc.)
Where do you want to live?
What is the timeline?
Who do you want to live with?
What is budget?
What supports do you need?
Once the vision is created Jessica helps the family to think about what resources the family already has, such as, friends, community, support, and financial. Then they will think about what what the next steps are to bring the plan to life!
Lessons Learned with The Be At Home Creative Housing Supports Project
Over the last year, Jessica has helped; 7 people to find housing, 12 people to actively work on their housing plan, and 12 people to create a plan and put it on pause to resume at a later time that is right for the family.
Jessica shares the biggest challenges and successes families have experienced so far:
The Challenges
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Affordability of housing and supports
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Long waitlists for subsidized housing
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Long waitlists for supports
The Successes
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Tapping into the network of family and friends to access community resources.
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Creatively reducing costs with roommates.
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Testing out the housing plan with a trial run, for example, living in your desired housing with your desired support for a short time period on a rental basis. (More on this below)
Innovative Housing Ideas
Testing Before Implementing: Jessica shares that by testing out your plan before implementing is a great way for people to understand what it is going to be like living on their own. It can help you understand what might work, and what might not work and you can adjust your plan accordingly. In Waterloo Region, there are programs that exist, such as Testing the Waters, and Trying It On For Size, that allow people to do exactly what their names suggest.
Going to where community resources are richest: Jessica supported a couple that moved into a co-operative community where there was already a great community established. In a co-operative, there is often a culture established where the members are expected to contribute back to the community. You can find your own way to contribute to the community, whether that is gardening, group potlucks, helping a neighbour, or game nights. Anyone can apply to be a co-op through the community housing list. There is an interview and application process to see if that is a good fit for you. Jessica shares that, another place where there is often an intentional community is Eco-villages, which are becoming more abundant around the world.
Overcoming Barriers
On the podcast, Jessica and I discuss how to overcome some of the most common barriers to a person with a developmental disability moving out on their own, including letting go and personal safety.
I thank Jessica for coming onto the podcast and sharing her valuable experience and insights to help people with developmental disabilities find a home of their own.
This wraps up the mini-series on housing. If you would like to listen/ read about the other housing episodes you can find them here.
I want to hear from you! Tell me what would be helpful for you to create a home of your own, or to help others create a home of their own. Email me at eric@ericgoll.com with your thoughts, and I will be sure to reply.
Resources:
Contact Bridges to Belonging:
Bridges to Belonging Creative Housing Project: Click Here
Waterloo Region - Finding and Keeping a Home: Click Here
Lutherwood Housing Resources: Click Here
The Working Centre - Housing: Click Here
Waterloo Region Affordable Housing: Click Here
Tuesday Aug 22, 2017
Tuesday Aug 22, 2017
This week’s guest on Empowering Ability Podcast and Blog is Chris Woodhead, Group Director of Housing and Business Development for Dimensions UK. We talk about housing in the UK, and the approach Dimensions UK has for supporting people with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to find and create a home in Part 5/6 of the mini-series on housing for people with a disability.
Chris Woodhead has twenty years of experience in the housing, care and charity sectors in the UK. In 2016, Chris joined Dimensions UK to support the organization on their mission to provide high quality personalized support for people with learning disabilities and autism, helping them to be actively engaged with, and contribute to, their communities. Dimensions UK started about 30 years ago when institutions were closing and they currently support approximately 5,000 people across England and Whales. The approach to support Dimensions UK takes is to give people choice and control over their lives. For Dimensions UK it is about delivering personalized services by understanding the client’s needs so that they can deliver just enough support for them to achieve in their lives.
Housing in the UK
On the podcast Chris Woodhead shares:
The UK is a small and old country where land is at an absolute premium, this makes housing challenging. The UK culture is founded upon home ownership, whereas in the rest of Europe, rental is a more accepted norm. However, home ownership is difficult to achieve for most because housing prices are so high.
3 Main Ways to Have a Home:
1) Buy. For people that face a challenge to get into the employment market (many people with a disability) it is extremely difficult to realistically purchase a property. It is becoming an exclusive market that favors the wealthy.
2) Rent. The rental market is also prosperous in the UK and is becoming harder to access. It is incredibly difficult to find a rental in London – there is an exclusive barrier unless you have high income.
3) The Social and Affordable Rented Market. This market was created for people that were on lower incomes. This worked really well from the 2nd world war until the mid 80’s when there was a housing build program, and there were a lot of solutions for people who needed them. The rates at which these units become available have slowed, people are having to wait an awful long time for housing. Demand far outstrips supply.
People with low income can apply for housing benefits (being replaced by a system called Universal credit), which is a type of rental subsidy. However, rentals are becoming increasingly difficult to find with the amount of funding provided. In some cases, people have had to move to different city were rents are cheaper, which is taking people out of the city they call home.
Summary: Expensive to buy, increasingly expensive to rent in private market, increasing demands on social affordable housing.
Dimensions Approach to Housing
Paraphrased from the Podcast Chris Woodhead shares:
Dimensions UK’s aspiration is for people to have their own front door. Not all of Dimensions UK’s accommodation is in line with this aspiration at this time. For example, some housing is larger scale accommodation with 10 people living in one large accommodation, but over time Dimensions UK looking to remodel for a smaller scale more personalized approach.
Housing and support are generally separate. Dimensions holds a core value that where you live is important to quality of life (health and wellbeing), but people should be able to choose who supports them. You shouldn’t have to move if you are unhappy with your support. There is a delineation between the tenancy agreement and the support contract. We operate around choice and control. If we get their housing right, and we get their support right then we hope they will continue to choose us.
Dimensions UK's 3 Approaches to Housing
1) Build new housing at the right price. We need to create properties that have an affordable rent so that people can use the rental subsidy to pay for housing. We need to find the right places to build, at the right place so people can afford the rents.
2) Remodel, refurbish or knock down and rebuild existing housing (to give people their own front door).
3) Signposting (guiding) people into the right accommodation for them. This can be with registered providers (public sector organizations that provide affordable housing), or into the private rental sector (called brokerage).
How do people work with you?
Very few people self-refer to Dimensions, this just isn’t how the system works in the UK. Most people are referred by the National Health Service (NHS) social services or a professional service practitioner. If living an independent life is right for an individual then they would likely be referred into us.
How do you find the right housing?
Contact and conversation between the individual, the family, friends and the social workers/ professionals that understand that person. ‘Referral to residence’ is my pet term for it.
1) Understand the person: what do they want to achieve? What facilities do they need nearby? What modifications to the property would be needed (sensory experience, items of safety)?, What location (near family and friends)?, What social activities do they want to be involved in? The individual, family, and friends are very involved in the process.
2) Work out what is important for that person to achieve and help them with a support package that considers the 8 domains in the Activate model. (See a description of Dimensions UK Activate Model at the end of the blog.)
3) The Dimensions Advisors look for accommodation (termed Brokerage). Dimensions has been nominated for awards several times for their Brokerage Service, learn more here.
Paraphrasing from the Podcast Chris shares this important insight:
“When an individual’s wishes are reflected, it is the best chance for a successful transition is when we get it right the first time. I have been around long enough in the social care sector to see when support has failed, and it would be twice as hard the second time around. Confidence of the family plummets, and the fear and confidence of the person being supported is damaged too. Take the time, and put the thought into getting it right the first time. This can take a year to get this right, which can seem like a long time, but it isn’t if you compare to the experience of people living in an institution.”
The New Activate Model
This is a new researched based model that was piloted with 24 homes of 1-8 people over a 2-year period. The model focuses on 8 different domains in each person’s life:
1) Physical health and wellbeing
2) Communication and social interaction
3) The physical environment
4) Skills
5) Relationships
6) Service Staff
7) Service Management
8) Wider organizations
The two unexpected outcomes from the activate model research were 1) a 60% reduction in challenging behaviour, and 2) an increase in satisfaction for support staff. If you would like to learn more about the research, and watch the short videos visit the Dimensions UK website.
I thank Chris for coming onto the podcast and sharing his experience in housing, giving us an overview of the housing landscape in the UK, and for sharing lessons learned that can help us to empower people with disabilities to create a home of their own.
I’ve created a FREE workbook to help you create your vision of the best housing solution for you and to take the first steps toward implementing this solution. Click Here to download the free workbook. Our mini-series on housing for people with disabilities is continuing so go ahead and Subscribe to the mailing list to get all 6 episodes sent directly to your inbox!
Love & Respect,
Eric
Resources:
Dimensions UK Website: https://www.dimensions-uk.org/
Contact Dimensions UK: Click Here
Activate Model Research: Click Here
If you received value from this content please leave me a review on iTunes. By leaving a 5 star review on iTunes you make the Empowering Ability Podcast more discoverable, and more families will benefit. Click Here To Leave a Review on iTunes
The Empowering Ability Podcast is available on iTunes and various other apps so that you can listen while on the go from your smartphone!
Wednesday Aug 09, 2017
Wednesday Aug 09, 2017
This is the story of Michael Mainland’s incredible ordinary life. Michael is 38 years old, works at Boston Pizza, has his own house, lives with a roommate and volunteers regularly. What may come as a surprise to some is that Michael has a developmental disability that caused him to become non-verbal and reduced fine motor skills as he grew older.
Michael’s Story in Starting in High School:
I had the opportunity to interview Michael’s mother, Alice Mainland, to learn Michael’s story and to learn how Michael has created his ordinary life.
In the 2 months before Michael graduated from high school, Michael and his family realized they had a problem; there would be nothing for Michael once school ended. One of his parents would have to stay home to support Michael, and the family would drop down to a single income. Alice started making phone calls to various support agencies, local government, and basically anyone with a phone number that might be able to help. The people she called were willing to help! With the support of a few agencies the family was able to piece together support for Michael and this allowed the family to stay a two-income family.
Alice shares, “You don’t know what resources are available to you until you ask. “
At 29, Michael had the opportunity to move out of home because of a conversation 4 -5 years earlier when Alice was searching for support for Michael.
Michael’s Life Today:
Michael’s family purchased a duplex where Michael lives with a roommate in one unit, and a supportive neighbor lives in the second unit who is available for overnight support. The family focused on creating a great home for the supportive neighbor, and this strategy has been effective at attracting and retaining long-term tenants.
The first few weeks Michael lived on his own was a worrisome time for Alice and her husband, however their worries didn’t become a reality.
During the week Michael lives at his own house, works at Boston Pizza, and volunteers at the local foodbank. On weekends, Michael gets to spend quality time with his parents on their rural property. Alice and Michael often run errands on the weekend in town and Michael has 2-3 times the number of people saying hello to him compared to his mother. This is a great sign that Michael is building relationships in his community.
What’s next for the family?
Michael’s family is thinking about things like, who is going to take care of the house when Alice and her husband aren’t there? Who will help Michael make decisions? To ensure continuity in Michael’s future his family is looking at forming a micro-board. The purpose of the micro-board will be to help manage the home, and to help Michael make future decisions.
Lessons we can learn from Michael and his Family on living an ordinary life:
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Ask for help. Michael’s family reached out to anyone with a phone that might be able to help them. The people on the other end of the phone had good intentions and wanted to help.
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Environments where he can learn from his peers. Regular school classrooms (shop and gym for Michael's), working at Boston Pizza, volunteering, the Special Olympics.
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Opportunities to show off his skills. Michael loves to show off what he is good at from work to his recreation of horseback riding.
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Proloquo2Go. Michael is non-verbal the Pro lo to go app on his iPod empowers Michael to express himself more fully with others.
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Let go, and let in. Over time Michael’s parents have had to let go, which has allowed Michael to become his own person. The family has also had to allow other people to enter and be a part of Michael’s life. (Without interviewing them first!). At some point, someone else is going to have to be there for Michael other than his parents.
I thank Alice for sharing her family’s story. There are great insights and lessons that we can apply to our own situations.
Our mini-series on housing for people with disabilities is continuing so go ahead and Subscribeto the mailing list to get all 6 episodes sent directly to your inbox!
Love & Respect,
Eric
Resources:
Proloquo2Go - symbol-supported communication app - Click Here
If you received value from this content please leave me a review on iTunes. By leaving a 5 star review on iTunes you make the Empowering Ability Podcast more discoverable, and more families will benefit. Click Here To Leave a Review on iTunes
The Empowering Ability Podcast is available on iTunes and various other apps so that you can listen while on the go from your smartphone!
Thursday Aug 03, 2017
Thursday Aug 03, 2017
Hear the story of the Rougemount Housing Co-operative & the Deohaeko Support Network, learn what intentional community is and how to build it, learn the key factors that made Rougemount a success for people with a disability, and get a different perspective on creating a home for people with a disability.
This is part 4 of 6 of the mini-series on housing for people with a disability on the Empowering Ability podcast. In this episode, I bring you the story of Rougemount Co-operative Housing, and the Deohaeko Support Network– a co-operative housing project led by families that has embodied diversity, inclusion and community since its inception in the mid 1980’s. I had the pleasure of visiting the community for a guided tour, and I sat down to interview 5 members of the community. I
Narrating the story of Rougemount and Deohaeko is Janet Klees. Janet has been involved in the lives of people with disabilities, their families, and allies in community for over 30 years. Until recently, she has been coordinator with the family-governed Deohaeko Support Network for over 20 years. She is the author of three books which are directly rooted in the Deohaeko experience, (We Come Bearing Gifts; Our Presence has Roots; Deohaeko Decades) and which are now sold around the world to present the unique options of this family group. Currently, Janet is the Executive Director with a family support organization, the Durham Association for Family Respite Services, with hopes of sharing her learning with a wider group of families in Durham Region and trying to affect larger scale supports and changes for families.
The Story of Rougemount and Deohaeko
Paraphrasing from the podcast Janet shares:
“In the middle of crisis, there is always opportunity. In the 1980’s in the Greater Toronto Area there was a housing crisis, much like there is today, and a group of 7 families came together with the goal of creating ordinary life in ordinary neighborhoods for their sons and daughters with a developmental disability.
At the time, the Federal Government of Canada and Provincial Government of Ontario was funding Housing co-operatives where the people don't own the units, but there are permanent tenants as long as they follow the rules of the co-op set by the co-op board. It just so happens that Rougemount was the very last co-operative housing project that was funded by the Canadian Government.
The building was constructed with 105 units, where the 7 sons and daughters with a disability would live in this community. There are approximately 200 residents living at Rougemount and the residents were selected to represent the ethnic, demographic, and socioeconomic makeup of the surrounding region with no more than 10% of population having a disability, which is natural in this region (as it is in most areas).
The founding families of Rougemount then created the Deohaeko Support Network, which is a group of families that think about the natural and paid supports for their 7 sons and daughters in the community.”
Intentional Community
There is a lot of discussion in the disability sector about what community is and the definitions can vary widely. The conversation can range from placing groups of people (such as people with a disability and seniors) together in a building to support each other, to a diverse group of individuals coming together to build relationships and share their gifts with each other.
Amazing community builder, Linda Dawe shares what she has learned about building an intentional community at Rougemount over the last 25 years:
“Intentional community is not something that you measure - it is something that you feel. It isn't a thing, it is in the hearts of people, and people embrace it to different degrees. One of the things that was important in creating the intentional community at Rougemount was the diversity in the residents that represented the actual community. Not placing groups of people together, such as seniors and people with disabilities. Intentional community at Rougemount started out as a grand thing, but simply it is just being in relationship with each other. People living well together. It requires effort, consciousness, and core people to hold the values of the community.
Janet Klees adds: “Simply put, community is being a good neighbor. At Rougemount people look for opportunities to be good neighbors and then talk about it, and hold up examples of it.
Intentional community isn't a building - it is a mindset! We can take the ideas with us, and many groups have. People have come into Rougemount and have seen how it works, and then brought it into neighborhoods with single family homes, and brought it into condo buildings. Rougemount is just an example of how it can work.
On the podcast, Rougemount residents and supporters Donna Mitchell (25 year resident, Deohaeko member), Tiffany Dawe (25 year resident, Deohaeko member), Shirley Brown (25 year resident), and Sorida Fonseca (Supporter to Tiffany Dawe) share their story of intentional community and community contributions. Through their voices it is evident that everyone is an equal contributor to this community. People with a disability aren’t viewed as a burden, they are valued as equals in the community that provided significant contributions just like everyone else.
Lessons from Deohaeko
5 Essential tips in shaping aspects of the community, invisible support, and making principled decisions that ensure that people are seen as ordinary neighbours sharing much common ground.
*As described by Janet Klees on the podcast
1. Diversity. Dedication to supporting, shaping, and holding a very typical community - less than 10% disability. It is the diversity of the co-op that makes it work. Diversity first before building intentional community.
2. Where people lived. The people with disabilities living at Rougemount live in apartments across the building, not segregated on one floor. This allowed people to be known by their individual identity, not just by the identity of their disability.
3. Support identified by their name, and deflected to person and their interests. We helped new support workers be thoughtful on how they introduced themselves. When support introduced themselves they 1) identified themselves by their name only, 2) directed the conversation back to the individual they were supporting, and 3) spoke to that individual’s interest. (Example: “Hi I am Sorida, I'm hanging out with Tiffany today. We are headed to the art gallery today - have you seen her art? You should come over to her apartment sometime and see her art.”)
4. Discouraged segregated activities. When new committees were starting we had lots of conversation about who would participate. We thought about who from Deohaeko would participate in committees and chose not to have too many people with a disability on one committee because it then becomes difficult for people to build relationships.
5. No shared support. The reason is that the families didn't want people to see the same supporter with different people with disabilities because then people look at people with disabilities as all the same. Rather than saying different people need different kinds of support. Even in a crisis support wasn’t grouped. We figured different layers of support that would come forward in these situation. We really focused on people having their own unique and individual lives.
*All of this is to focus on creating natural relationships, and it works.
Creating Housing Solutions Today
Janet has carried the thinking from her work with Deohaeko forward into her work today with Durham Association for Family Respite Services.
Janet shares:
"Housing is a community issue, not a disability issue. In our most recent housing project, we partnered with Brockville and District Association for Community Involvement on a housing project called, ‘Housing is a Community Issue’. We asked families who were interested in housing to join us in discovering housing solutions together and 35 families showed up. This is incredible because we told the families up front that we don’t have any money to give. It shows how understanding families are that they are going to be part of the solution.
Even in this housing crisis, people are still finding housing. With our project, we are thinking about what are the ways that people are finding to build, buy, rent, and to figure out housing. Then asking, ‘why can't these ways fit families that are looking for housing?’
This is not a Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) issue, it belongs with housing. This is an affordability issue, not a disability issue. If people need renovations it is a cost issue. We need to ally ourselves with all the people that are struggling for housing. There are organizations like Habitat for Humanity, and Options for Homes that we can ally with. If MCSS is involved in housing they build a service, not a home. Families only have to think about their own son or daughter, and think about works best.”
In a recent housing forum in Durham Region, 70 families gathered to discuss person centered housing for their sons and daughters. The group compiled a list of 7 recommendations for the Government of Ontario, and for all of us to think about as we work toward creating a good life for people with disabilities.
1. Home, housing and support are 3 different things and bust thought of separately.
2. Most housing challenges are affordability, not disability.
3. People with disability contribute to their communities, they are not a burden.
4.Getting good housing and support doesn't mean taking away the individual’s control of their life
5.Providing renovation dollars allows families to be creative with their current home today (stabilize current situation), and allows for flexible housing in the future.
6. Stop funding congregated mega projects for people with disabilities, and disabilities / seniors. Commit to typical housing options and neighbourhoods.
7. Where there are Families that are willing to create a home in community the government needs to support with resources. These are cheapest, most effective models, and they are currently the least funded.
There are so many things I am taking away from my time with Janet, Linda, Tiffany, Shirley, Donna, and Sorida and grateful to them for sharing their experiences, and what they have learned.
The Key Takeaways for me are:
1. Building Intentional Community starts with rich diversity and upholding neighbourly values.
2. Fostering Intentional Community requires us to get a common understanding of each other, and through that understanding building trust and respect. From here we can show love to each other in small little ways, and uphold those acts of love.
3. Housing and support are best viewed as separate.
4. Be intentional in creating opportunities for people with disabilities to build relationship. Do not group them in housing or support.
5. As families, we need be a part of the solution. Design our lives, take control, and ask for help. We assume that someone is going to take care of things for us, but that someone is never going to come.
To end, here is a beautiful quote from community builder, Linda Dawe “Everyone needs good housing. Once they have good housing they are able to experience good things in their life.”
Our mini-series on housing for people with disabilities is continuing so go ahead and Subscribeto the mailing list to get all 6 episodes sent directly to your inbox!
Love & Respect,
Eric
Resources:
Purchase These Books to Learn More Lesson's from Deohaeko:
"We come bearing gifts" by Janet Klees
"Our Presence has roots" by Janet Klees
Learn more about Deohaeko: Click Here
Learning events In Durham Region: Click Here
Book a study tour to learn about Rougemount and Deohaeko: Click Here
Contact Janet Klees: janet@legacies.ca
If you received value from this content please leave me a review on iTunes. By leaving a 5 star review on iTunes you make the Empowering Ability Podcast more discoverable, and more families will benefit. Click Here To Leave a Review on iTunes
The Empowering Ability Podcast is available on iTunes and various other apps so that you can listen while on the go from your smartphone!
Tuesday Jul 11, 2017
Tuesday Jul 11, 2017
The Anthony Bourdain of the community care world, Jackie Goldstein, is our guest this week. Jackie is an observer, educator, author and speaker on community care support models. Jackie's book, 'Voices of Hope For Mental Illness; Not Against, With', shares the stories of many community care models across the United States, and the story of Geel Belgium. On this podcast, we discuss the story of Geel Belgium, Broadway Community Housing (BCH), and Gould Farm.
Geel Belgium
The story of the Geel Belgium's foster family community care model started as far back as the 13th century, and it still continues today! This makes Geel one of the oldest and largest community care models in the world. The foster family system evolved in Geel from the legend of St. Dymphna; the St. of loss causes. You can hear Jackie tell the fascinating legend of St. Dymphna on the podcast.
Paraphrasing from the podcast Jackie explains, "In the Middle ages, the Church is where people went to be healed. Word spread that there was a St. in Belgium that could heal people, and people started coming into Geel to be healed. Pilgrims started with 9 days of praying, and sometimes this worked because of a placebo effect. If praying didn't cure their illness, the church asked the towns people to take these pilgrims into their homes. Geel was an agricultural community so there was a deal made between the town and the pilgrims that they would work on the farm, and in exchange live in the home. This became the model, and the community thought of themselves of a healing community. It was a source of pride, there was no stigma. If a Geel resident didn't have a boarder, people wondered why - where you not good enough? It is not the way we think of a system starting today, this system evolved. However, the foster family system in Geel teaches us that by understanding the needs of the individual, and the resources of the community we can find solutions."
Broadway Housing Communities
Ellen Baxter was an observer of the Geel foster family model and saw the need of individuals in New York so she raised funds, and started Broadway Housing Communities (BHC). Her first housing initiative opened in 1986 for 55 homeless single adults. Shortly after in 1990 BHC opened an apartment for homeless families and adults (many of which had a mental illness). Jackie explains " At the time this was against societal norms, people thought that kids shouldn't be exposed to people with mental illness. However, the model proved to be effective. This model also fostered the creation of community by offering everything that was available in the building to the neighbourhood. In a more recent project, BHC has focused on poverty because homelessness had become more of a problem. Residents were selected into the building on a lottery system - some based on poverty, and some based on mental illness."
Gould Farm
Beginning in the early 1900's Mr. Gould opened his working farm to people in need, starting with people that were recovering from surgery and evolving into accepting people with disabilities. Jackie had the opportunity to stay at Gould Farm and she shares " Gould Farm is a self sustaining farm, now primarily hosting guests with an intellectual disability. Everyone who works at Gould Farm lives at Gould Farm. This includes the staff and their families, even their kids. It is hard to tell who is a guest and who is staff. It is a community."
What Jackie Has Learned
Jackie shares that the subtitle of her book, 'Not against, with', comes from the Robert Frost quote, "Always fall in with what you are asked to accept, take what is given, and make it over your way. My aim in life is always been to hold my own with whatever is going. Not against, with."
What Jackie has learned through her observations of many communities is that you can take any community and you can assume that there is a group of people that need support. You can then ask two questions:
What kind of support do they need? (The individual, not a group of people)
What resources are available in the community?
Then you take the 'Not against, with' approach to find the best solution for the individual by working with individual's abilities, and not ignoring their disability.
I thank Jackie for coming onto the podcast and sharing her observations and insights on community care, and creating a home for people with a mental illness and disability. If you are interested in learning more about community care models I recommend that you pick up Jackie's book, she would also be happy to speak to your event.
Our mini-series on housing for people with disabilities is continuing so go ahead and Subscribe to the mailing list to get all 6 episodes sent directly to your inbox!
Love & Respect,
Eric
Resources:
Email Jackie: jlgoldst@samford.edu
Jackie's Book, 'Voices of Hope for Mental Illness: Not Against, With'
If you received value from this content please leave me a review on iTunes. By leaving a 5 star review on iTunes you make the Empowering Ability Podcast more discoverable, and more families will benefit. Click Here To Leave a Review on iTunes
The Empowering Ability Podcast is available on iTunes and various other apps so that you can listen while on the go from your smartphone!
Tuesday Jun 27, 2017
Tuesday Jun 27, 2017
I ask Keenan, “What is the most common question you get asked in your role as Co-leader at LiveWorkPlay?”. Keenan replies “Housing – what should we do in housing?” - At the end of the podcast recording in Episode 1; “The movement to individualized support, and accessing developmental support services”,
In this week’s podcast I share unreleased audio from our very first guest on the podcast, Keenan Wellar. Keenan is the innovative Co-founder and Co-leader of LiveWorkPlay, a developmental service agency that works to facilitate community connections and relationships in Ottawa, ON.
When answering this question, Keenan takes a coach approach by asking a lot of questions in order to draw out the best answer for that family. A couple of questions that Keenan will ask are;
Where do most citizens tend to live in your community? (Let’s start there)
What are the barriers to those outcomes (living in 'ordinary' housing) ?
These are great questions to get you thinking about the best solution for you and your family. To help guide your thinking process I’ve created a FREE workbook to help you create your vision of the best housing solution for you, and to take the first steps toward implementing your solution. Click Here to download the free workbook.
Keenan shares, "If we just look at the systemic one size fits all housing solution then we are closing a lot of doors." I agree. We also might not be creating an environment for a person with a disability to flourish by taking a one size fits all approach.
Keenan also touches on the problem of isolation and loneliness for people with a disability, and how important it is to work on developing unpaid relationships. Keenan and I dive deep into building social capital topic with Al Condeluci in Episode 6; “Social Capital; Building Relationships for Improved Well-Being”
Take a listen to this podcast to get a different perspective on creating the best home for you and your loved one.
Our mini-series on housing for people with disabilities is continuing so go ahead and Subscribeto the mailing list to get all 6 episodes sent directly to your inbox!
Love & Respect,
Eric
How to Contact Keenan Wellar and LiveWorkPlay:
Website: http://liveworkplay.ca/
Phone: 613-702-0332
If you received value from this content please leave me a review on iTunes. By leaving a 5 star review on iTunes you make the Empowering Ability Podcast more discoverable, and more families will benefit. Click Here To Leave a Review on iTunes
The Empowering Ability Podcast is available on iTunes and various other apps so that you can listen while on the go from your smartphone!
Click Here To Listen on iTunes
Tuesday Jun 20, 2017
Tuesday Jun 20, 2017
Guest Ron Pruessen, father to Caroline, who has a developmental disability, member of Opportunities Mississauga, and Chair of the Ontario Developmental Services Housing Task Force. In this episode, Ron has an open conversation with me as a father and gives his personal perspective on housing for people with a developmental disability, rather than speaking for organizations and projects he is involved with.
This is Part 2 of a 6 part mini-series on housing for people with disabilities. We are exploring the housing issue for people with disabilities, new innovative ideas, and success stories from around the globe. Subscribe to the mailing list to get all 6 episodes sent directly to your inbox!
Ron has been advocating for people with disabilities for the last 20 years. He was moved to do something when he, and his wife Alice, found that there weren’t many opportunities for their daughter Caroline, now 40, when she graduated high school. Ron got involved in a family group called Opportunities Mississauga, which now represents about 200 families. Currently, Ron sits at the Partnership Table with the Ontario Provincial Government to voice what is needed in terms of support for people (and families) with a developmental disability. This led to the creation of the Ontario Developmental Services Housing Task Force (Housing Task Force), in 2015, to begin addressing the housing crisis for people with a developmental disability in Ontario. Ron currently serves as the Chair for the Housing Task Force.
As explained in Part 1 of the mini-series on housing, ‘Creating a Home, with Marg McLean’ (Listen Here) – there are 12,000 to 17,000 people in Ontario waiting for housing and the list is growing. I recommend you check out Part 1 as Marg and I explore the elements of creating a home, and I provide a Free Workbook to help guide you through creating your vision.
The Housing Task Force
The Housing Task Force was created by the Ontario Provincial Government, but it is not operated by the government. It is operated at arm’s length by individuals that need support, families, and members support agencies. It was evident that in the past the government wasn't looking outside the box, so the focus has been placed on finding creative solutions. The Housing Task Force was given $3MM in annualized funding, which has funded 18 pilot projects from the 200 proposals submitted. The Housing Task Force is now working closely with the people in the pilot projects to learn what is working, and what isn’t.
Personally, I love that the Ontario Government took an entrepreneurial approach to the problem, and allowed the Housing Task Force to test different ideas. The next challenge will be to fund and scale the housing models that have been proven to be effective in providing people a good life.
Ron shares that in his opinion it is the Government’s responsibility to provide housing and a good life for people with disabilities, just like they do for senior citizens. The Ontario Government didn’t do anything for a long time, but the current government deserves credit for the approach it is taking. However, Ron says there is much more work to be done.
I ask Ron, as a father and someone that is involved with a family group and the housing task force what have you learned along the journey on housing?
Ron shares that for a long time the government has had a limited menu (of housing options). There has been a lot of wonderful ideas at the grassroots level that haven't had the opportunity to come to life. Individuals have been doing the visioning, and they see the possibilities out there.
The most significant example of creativity Ron has seen in is building partnerships. The community can provide the best solutions. Not just because you can mobilize financial resources, but also because you can develop a wealth of opportunities (educational, social, employment), and this is incredibly important. The house (or home) is an important part of the picture, but it isn't the whole solution. Community connections improve quality of life, but the government can't do this, we have to do this.
Examples of partnering with community:
1) Mobilizing resources to launch a project with local governments; cities, towns, and municipalities. (Ex. affordable housing programs and agendas.)
2) Organizations like Habitat for Humanity and building developers contributing resources.
3) Community colleges participating in programs that where there are opportunities to develop friendships.
I ask Ron, knowing what you know now - what are the first steps you would take to put a housing solution in place?
Ron replied, we want to turn to the government but, that isn't a very effective because the government has a lot of demands on it (education, infrastructure, etc.), and there isn't enough money.
Don't just wait and sit around, be proactive, and start community conversations.
What we should have done is build the community connections and relationships that have been effective; local government, social clubs, churches, local agencies, organizations. This is where we started a long time ago, and this is where we are going back to.
I ask Ron, when should you start designing a life with your son or daughter with a disability?
Ron suggested parents should start having these family conversations in the early teenage years. At this age you start to learn who this person is, what they want to contribute, and what their gifts are.
When it comes to housing, it is a long process. Caroline (Ron’s daughter) went on the residential housing support waitlist when she was 16, and they thought it would take about 10 years for her to find a home. 22 years later Caroline was still waiting for an opportunity to emerge.
The simple message is: the earlier, the better.
Tune into the podcast to hear more from Ron about building community, outside of the box thinking, building a whole life, and building relationships.
Ron strongly urges us to keep the pressure on the Government, keep pushing. Talk to your member of parliament, and make it clear that this is a problem. Help these people empathize with your lived experience, because they haven't lived the life. They need to hear our stories.
I thank Ron for coming on the podcast to share his experience and perspective on housing for people with a disability.
I’ve created a FREE workbook to help you create your vision of the best housing solution for you, and to take the first steps toward implementing your solution. Click Here to download the free workbook.
Love & Respect,
Eric
How to Contact Ron Pruessen:
Facebook Page: Click Here
Podcast Resources:
P4P Booklet on Housing Task Force Projects: Click Here
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Monday May 29, 2017
Monday May 29, 2017
This is Part 1 of a 6 part mini-series on housing for people with disabilities. We are exploring the housing issue for people with disabilities, new innovative ideas, and success stories from around the globe. Subscribe to the mailing list to get all 6 episodes sent directly to your inbox!
This week's guest on the Empowering Ability Podcast is Marg McLean, Executive Director of Community Living St. Marys. Marg and the Community Living St. Marys team have been helping people with a disability create their home, and support solutions since the 1980's when people were leaving institutions.
The Problem:
As of 2016, the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services was supporting approximately 18,000 people with a developmental disability in group homes and other supported living, and an additional 9,700 people were on a waiting list for residential supports. So, the reported demand for residential housing support is over 50% greater than the supply. The demand is likely higher than reported because it obviously doesn’t include people who have not registered for the list. We will be exploring this problem in other parts of the world as the housing mini-series continues. Reference: (The Toronto Star, 2016)
This is a massive line to wait in as supply of residential homes is increasing at a much slower pace than the demand for people with a developmental disability in need of housing.
So, should families be planning their own housing solution?
Marg shares that people are going on the waitlist without thinking, talking, and planning what an ideal home looks like for them. (Note: This is exactly what my family did at the start of our housing search for my sister.) What works well is for families to come up with a vision of what would be a good home in community.
When thinking about your home, there are 4 questions you need to answer:
I’ve created a FREE workbook to help you create your vision of the best housing solution for you and to take the first steps toward implementing this solution. Click Here to download the free workbook.
Marg shares the stories of Michael, Bill, Gord, and Kayleigh on the podcast. Below is a short overview of the home they have created, listen to the podcast and watch the Community Living St. Marys videos to hear their full stories.
Success Stories of Creating Home:
Michael’s story – In his mid 20’s Michael lived in a rural area with his family, and was looking for opportunity to move out of his family home. Michael’s family bought a duplex in a small city, where Michael attended school and has access to transportation. Michael and his housemate live in the upper level and his supportive neighbours, Leah and her mom, live in the main level unit. The duplex is paying the mortgage, and when the mortgage is paid off it will enhance his Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP).
Note: Housing trusts can be explored if you are considering home ownership.
Bill’s story – Bill had a supportive housemate living with him, and when his supportive housemate purchased their own home Bill moved with them. Sharing a home with an individual or a family is commonplace, but can be forgotten when considering housing options.
Gord’s story – Gord wasn’t interested in a staff model so he found a couple that live on a farm to live with, and they welcomed him in with open arms. This couple and Gord have shared their lives together for the last 19 years.
Kayleigh’s story – Kayleigh moved out of her mom’s home and into her own apartment in an 8-plex building as part of Community Living St. Marys’ ‘Supportive Neighbour’ project with The Ontario Developmental Services Housing Taskforce . A young family lives beside Kayleigh and provides some supports. Kayleigh also ended up inviting Yvonne to live with her as a roommate.
* Note: The Ontario Developmental Services Housing Taskforce operates at arm’s length from the Ontario government who provided $3MM to fund new innovative housing projects over a 2-year period. In year 1, 12 projects were funded by the Housing Taskforce.
Eric’s Story – I live with a roommate in his own home, and he has outside support come to the house. We are roommates who provide each other friendship and I help with things like lunch, letting his dog out, and being there overnight.
Check out the podcast to hear some creative ways you can find people to share home with, and to hear the Lesson’s Marg has learned helping people with disabilities to create their home.
A key takeaway for me from the conversation with Marg, and the research that I have done on housing is that families need to start thinking and acting on their own vision for housing. What does the ideal home look like? What does the ideal community look like? Take control of your own future. Click Here to download the free housing workbook to get started on your solution.
I thank Marg for coming on the podcast and sharing her experience and stories on housing for people with a disability.
How to Contact Marg McLean:
Email: mmclean@clstmarys.ca
Monday May 22, 2017
Monday May 22, 2017
In this podcast episode, Lynn McGregor provides educates us on accessibility in the built environment, tells us our rights when it comes to accessibility, and provides tips for making your home accessible.