Assisting
Independence
Continued
by Tim Bugansky
photos by Allison Waltz
Independence operates five Portage County group homes and 12 supported living apartments, It calls the people who live in their homes consumers. But to Brian Van Almen, the guys at Meridian – Bert, Doug, Ricky and all the rest – are far more than consumers. They're friends.
"That's really one of the cool parts of the job," says the Kent State senior psychology major and habilitation aide at Meridian. "You get to be friends with them. Then it's not working. You want to hang out with them, find out how it's going, what's going on with them. They're your friends."
Van Almen spends time with the group home residents off the job as well. He visits the house, takes the men to dinner, goes to bw-3Grill & Pub with them for evenings of hot wings and football. He even invited some of the consumers to his house for Christmas and Thanksgiving.
"If I got another job, I would still stop by at least once a week to see the guys," Van Almen says. "They're your family."
 A nutritious dinner is served every night for the men of the Meridian home. |
Meridian resident manager and 1995 Kent State graduate Tom Burick also worked for Independence while attending college. He began in 1993 as a habilitation aide like Van Almen.
When he graduated from Kent State with a therapeutic recreation major and a psychology minor, he took an open management position with Independence.
"I would say that school helped me, but at the same time I've learned a lot on this job," Burick says. "Reading a book and listening to a lecture can give you so much information. When you get to deal with a different array of people, you see firsthand."
Developmental disablity is the common diagnosis for Independence residents. But the severity varies greatly from person to person. Many of the consumers in the homes also have secondary diagnoses for disorders like manic depression, autism, obsessive compulsion, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and seizure disorders.
As a qualified mental retardation professional, or "Q," Burick is in charge of developing programs for the residents at Meridian and Highland. The programs are intended to help the consumers develop everyday living skills like cooking, cleaning and bathing.
"Our whole philosophy here is active treatment," Burick says. "Tooth-brushing, hair-combing, tying your shoes. As they become better, we work on personal and community safety skills – things we can do ourselves but a lot of times we take for granted, that others can't do."
More advanced programs include calling the police or fire department, crossing the street, making purchases and dealing with people in the community.
The ultimate goal is for the group home residents to reach a point where they can progress to Independence's minimally supervised supported living apartments. Right now, three of the Meridian residents are on a waiting list to move to the apartments. But it is difficult to say how far the others will progress, Burick says.
"As sad as it is to say, some of them do not have the skills and retention to the point where they may move out," he says. "They will be in a group home for the rest of their lives."