A new way of living

Things once again are bustling at the Benedict Apartments.

When it opened in 1982, The Resource Center's Apartment Building on Benedict Avenue in Jamestown was seen as a stepping stone from group home life to independent living in the community. Over the years, the number of people living at Benedict has fluctuated, and in recent times the apartments were underutilized.

But all that has changed in recent months as Benedict was renovated and converted into three separate Individualized Residential Alternatives, resulting in the apartments once again being occupied at full capacity.

The Apartments were renovated last year in preparation for the change in the Apartments' operating status, a move made possible thanks to New York State's approval of TRC's proposal to convert the facility into three IRAs — one classified as "Supportive" for folks who are more independent, and two classified as "Supervised."

New residents began moving into the Apartments in December, with people brought in a few at a time so everyone could adjust to the new arrangement. The last residents moved in during February.

New residents at the Benedict Apartments have been learning skills such as cooking and cleaning.

Joanne Bevan, Director of Residential Services, said the decision to create three IRAs at the Apartments stemmed from a desire to provide an alternative to larger group home living, as well as to accommodate the needs of people on TRC's Residential waiting list. Some of the people who've moved into Benedict have behavior issues that make it difficult for them to get along with several other residents living under the same roof, but these individuals are flourishing now that they are living at Benedict in their own apartment, with one roommate.

Vacancies created by people moving into Benedict from other TRC homes have allowed the agency to accommodate more people from TRC's waiting list, and to relocate four individuals who had been living at the Intermediate Care Facility on Foote Avenue. This downsizing of Foote is one step in TRC's multi-year plan to move people from Foote (where six homes housed 10 residents each) into smaller community residences.

Though residents usually prepare and eat meals on their own, regular “community meals” allow everyone to interact socially, if desired.

"This is not just a success at Benedict, but it's been a success elsewhere as well," said Joanne in reference to the amount of people who have benefitted from the changes.

Another facet of the reconfiguration at Benedict was to move some of the Apartments' existing residents from Supportive living to Supervised, a move Joanne said was necessitated by increased health issues as those residents grew older and had greater medical needs.

The project creating the three Benedict IRAs was funded through OPTS (Options for People Through Services), a New York State program that encouraged innovative ideas in the area of service provision. The Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities approved the Benedict project because of TRC's goal of decreasing behavior issues and increasing residents' independent living skills.

Accordingly, staff has been supporting residents in learning to do things such as prepare their meals, clean their rooms and become independent travelers in their community. Many of these activities take place either one-on-one or with a staff member and two residents, but group activities occur on a regular basis.

Staff is available to support residents in learning skills of independent living, such as creating a household budget.


One recent evening, many of Benedict's residents gathered to make dinner and eat together. Following the meal, some residents took turns washing and drying dishes. Residents also have organized interest groups on topics such as dieting and making crafts, and movie nights also have been arranged.

Talk to the residents, and you'll encounter people who are excited about the changes. New residents like the freedom of having their own apartment, while longtime residents are pleased with the renovations to the Apartments (new bathroom and kitchen fixtures) and the opportunity to make new friends.

One of the new residents is Tristan Wassman. Sitting on one of the new patio chairs at Benedict, Tristan reported that he enjoys living at the Apartments and the freedom it offers. He's excited about learning to prepare meals ("I've actually gotten better at cooking eggs and burgers."), and — like many men — laments the fact he has to clean his apartment.

Peter Prell has lived at Benedict since it opened. He agrees with the decision to renovate the Apartments and make them into IRAs, in order to give more individuals with disabilities the opportunity to move toward independence.

Benedict staff members say that's the main goal for the 16 residents living in the two Supervised IRAs — to support them to the point that they're ready to move into Supportive living.

"The goal is for everybody in Supervised to go to Supportive," said Kevin Anderson, Site Supervisor. "We want to give them that next step of independence."

Grocery shopping is an example. Currently, several residents will go out together with a staff member to buy their groceries, filling three or four shopping carts. Eventually, each resident will do his or her own shopping, said Becky Kelley, one of the new Community Living Specialists hired to work at Benedict.

"But it's going to take time to get there. Everything in small bits."

Though residents and staff agree that things generally are going well, there naturally have been some growing pains. A Social Worker has been helping residents iron out personality conflicts with their roommates. A Residents Meeting is held each week, enabling residents to plan activities and work on getting along better, said Derae Luce, Assistant Site Supervisor.

Despite the challenges, residents' feelings can be summed up by Tristan: "I love it here."

Comment

Persons with disabilities enjoy partaking in all that a community has to offer – from attending baseball games and cultural events to going out for dinner and a movie. For many people who live on their own, access to such events is limited because they lack transportation. TRC Foundation raises money to provide transportation vouchers to persons with disabilities so they can take public transportation to attend recreational and cultural activities. Click here to help people with disabilities experience all that a community has to offer by making a contribution to provide transportation vouchers.