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Who and What is Seeing is Believing? Click here for Printable PDF |
| What We’re Doing: |
| Most of us think home is important. While we each define home a little differently, there are some common themes. When a person lives in her own home, she gets to control who comes in the front door, what time she goes to bed, where she hangs her pictures. When a person lives in his own home, he isn’t “moved” to another house. There are no “slots.” And the only “beds” in a person’s home are the ones he bring into it. The agencies involved with Seeing Is Believing are committed to expanding the living options available to the people they support through their involvement in a new statewide initiative to support people with disabilities to live in homes of their own. Through funding from the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities’ Seeing is Believing project, all three agencies have the opportunity to receive support in strengthening its commitment to empowering people to live where they choose. Over the next three years they will receive free, ongoing technical assistance in supporting people to transition out of larger and institutional facilities and into homes of their own. And starting this year, these organizations will begin making home a reality for a number of the people they serve. |
| Why We’re Doing It: |
| We believe supporting the people to live in their own homes will provide each person with: • Stability: a person can change providers without having to move. • Safety: statistically, people with disabilities are safest when a part of a typical community. • Opportunity: by becoming a part of a larger community, people with disabilities have expanded opportunities to build relationships, make a contribution and get real jobs. • Choice: people will have more control in what their services look like and the amount of service they receive. • Living options: Living in one’s own home does not require a person own his home. We will support a person to explore whatever housing scenario makes sense to him. |
| What We Commit To: |
| As we expand and improve the living opportunities for people we are committed to: • Supporting any person we serve to move into his own home; • Thoughtful, careful, person-specific planning; • Collaborating with each participant and their family to identify needs, challenges and resources; • Creative, “can do” thinking. |
| Please Join Us in this Effort! |
| This is an exciting time in the lives of the people who choose to be a part of the Seeing is Believing effort. Living in homes of their own will give project participants greater choice and a greater chance to become a welcomed, contributing member of their larger community. We are excited about the work to be done around improving the lives of the people we support and invite you to join us in the effort! |
| Open and ongoing conversation is critical to this effort’s success and we invite anyone interested in learning more about this opportunity to contact Mike Mayer, project director, at mikemayer@craconferences.com. The Seeing is Believing project was developed in response to an increasing number of people with developmental disabilities requesting more personalized, home-based services and the opportunity to live in their own homes. Through the project, participating organizations will receive ongoing, hands-on technical assistance throughout the organizational transition process, including accessing community resources and developing the supports needed to ensure people with developmental disabilities can live in their own homes. By 2011, participating organizations are anticipated to have the skills, resources and infrastructure needed to maintain the personalized supports developed through the Project and to be prepared to serve as model programs and mentors to other North Carolina agencies interested in building more person-centered services. The agencies participating in the Seeing is Believing project funded by North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities, include Charles Hines and Sons of Winston-Salem, RHA-Howells of Lagrange, and Ralph Scott LifeServices of Burlington. The three agencies were selected because of their commitment to providing quality services to people with disabilities and their desire to be leaders in the state in the provision of innovative services. Each agency made a formal commitment to support people with disabilities to live in homes of their own as a condition of participation in the project. Community Resource Alliance (CRA), based in Mebane, is the lead agency providing the training and technical assistance for the project. Mike Mayer, Senior Partner for CRA, said: “We are very pleased that these exceptional agencies have accepted the challenge to be a part of this project. They are clearly leaders in the field and their skills and experience will not only help them to transform their services but they will eventually also be able to help other providers to develop personalized services.” For more information about personalized services for people with disabilities or the Seeing is Believing Project, contact: Mike Mayer at mikemayer@craconferences.com |