It’s All About Family

491

By John Burton
MIDDLETOWN – Speaking with staff and residents of Community Options’ group home in the township, one word keeps coming up:
Family.
“It really is like a family here,” said Betty Richardson, group home manager for the Middletown location, with residents offering their nods of agreement.
“It’s really nice here and everybody is really nice,” offered Annmarie Anderson, who has been living here since June 2014 and has been very happy.
Community Options’ location is a two-story townhouse in a large condominium development off of state Highway 36. It serves as home to three mentally disabled mature women who, like others with the organization’s help, have transitioned from living with family members or in institutions, setting up residence in a home environment. And there they live like a family, they all stressed, sharing a kitchen, usually together for meals, watching TV, playing games.
Unlike living in an institutional environment, “They have choices,” explained Maria Bowles, executive director of Community Options, noting residents are afforded a certain level of independence, depending on their cognitive ability.
“They don’t have to be in bed at a certain time. They don’t have to eat at a certain time,” Bowles said. And while not the case of the three women living here, many of residents in the organization’s community living locations hold jobs, “just like you and I,” she said.
Without homes like this, “I think a large amount of them would wind up homeless,” Bowles feared. Living in state-run institutions “You don’t get the same quality of care, attention they need,” she said.
The organization’s mission, Bowles said, “Is quite simply to provide support and housing for people with disabilities.” But more than just that, its efforts allow their clients to live with dignity and self-determination, organization representatives said.
Community Options was founded in 1989 and operates 200 community homes in nine states. The organization has 24 homes (though some are actually apartments licensed as group homes) located in Monmouth and Ocean counties, serving 14 people in Monmouth and 53 in Ocean.
The residents have been diagnosed with a wide array of conditions, from physical disabilities, intellectual disability, traumatic brain injury, to autism, bipolar disorder and impulsive control disorder, just to name a few, Bowles said.
Community Options is looking to expand in Monmouth and Middlesex counties. “There’s a great need,” that remains to be met, Bowles acknowledged.
The organization relies on state funding and private donations and what it can raise from its annual 5K, conducted on or near Valentine’s Day each year, it runs in nine-operating states. In the case of the Middletown facility, the developer of the condo complex donated the unit.
The cost of housing and caring for each resident probably runs upward of $200,000, Bowles noted.
Anderson and her roommates, Cleo James (who has been living here since 2011) and Peggy Hinners (a resident since June), spend their days at an adult activity program. While they’re home they have 24-hour supervision.
Karen Pennell, one of the assistants on hand on the premises, said “I love coming to work,” helping improve the quality of life for the residents. “Not a lot of people can say that.”
“We have so much fun with the ladies,” said Jacqueline Pressley, who also works assisting the residents, who too, felt “We’re like a family.”