in large concrete buildings with a very institutional feel. There were often multiple beds in every room – even the furniture was institutional. They were supported by nurses, an administrator, and a variety of staff. It was government housing and everybody knew it. There was quite a variety of these training centres with each one serving particular disabilities, but more often than not, children were separated from their families by distance and policy. KL: Yes, the Kings Meadows group home here in Windsor was established in 1969 and throughout the ‘70s, the policy was that when someone came to the home, they weren’t to have any communication with their family for six weeks. It was, I suppose, believed that this was the best way to get residents to acclimate. This couldn’t be farther from how we operate now. Families are very much part of the life of res- idents. Families are constantly reaching out via Facebook and FaceTime. “To have success in a community, you have to help build a life – and that’s what NSRAA really does.” Just yesterday, I had a conversation with a resident’s sister who was vacationing in Myrtle Beach. Advance- ments in technology have made a huge difference. Families are involved in the daily lives of residents to provide the support we can’t – it’s really cool. KW: Absolutely. I think that the clinical feel that was in place before ’93 really moved the government towards the deinstitutionalization model. Thankfully, it was happening across the country and across the world. Everyone was recognizing how important it is to bring people with dis- abilities into the community. It didn’t make much sense, for instance, that someone with a hearing impairment in Cape Breton needed to live in Amherst or Halifax – that was happening quite often everywhere in the province. The new concept was to provide smaller homes in the commu- nity that were just like anyone else’s home: Less people in a non-institutional home, a regular house with no signs on it.
When this was starting to happen in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, it was non-profit organizations like ours who were trying to facilitate the transition into the community from the closure of training centres and other institutions. What kind of a role does the community play in the NSRAA’s mission and what does it look like when it’s happening? HS: Yes, community is the operative word here. It’s a com- munity for people, for families, and that’s been the vision from the beginning. The families were very involved in this process and in some cases were actually helping with the furnishings and the house in general. Being a part of the transition process meant they got to know the staff and the people that were going to be providing support for their children. It was a departure from the model that had been in place previously because it really did bring the family back into the forefront and it brought the people back to their home communities. Living amongst the people – relatives and friends and com- munity members – who had known them growing up was a huge juxtaposition from an institutional model where everything moved around the institution and its model. These small community-based models, these environments
52
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • MAY 2017
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter