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LiveWorkPlay
Building Productive Lives
Making A Buzz In The Ottawa Community Since 1995
SUCCESS THROUGH COMMUNITY
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LiveWorkPlay: Housing Initiatives
Housing is a relatively new area of concern for the LiveWorkPlay organization. At the 2001 Visioning Day housing issues were suggested as a future consideration. By the time of Visioning Day 2002, it was a key agenda item that led to the development and implementation of the On Our Own Together housing project in the summer of 2003.
On Our Own Together saw ten participants from the SMILE system of supports living in a Carleton University residence for a period of 30 days. There were many goals and objectives, but the basic idea was to see if the participants could simply survive a month out from under their parent's roofs, and also to see if peer support and interdependence could develop as alternatives to a more staff-directed model. The project was very successful from all perspectives, and a clear demonstration that the individuals involved - as well as the LiveWorkPlay organization - were headed in the right direction in terms of developing an appropriate housing model. Internal data as well as observations collected by researchers at the University of Ottawa were assembled and reviewed, which helped to more precisely characterize the successes of On Our Own Together I, and also to consider the limits of how much could truly be known from this single experiment.
Within a week of the project's conclusion, the participants were already meeting to talk about next steps, and the decision was made to hold a second On Our Own Together project. OOOT2 was 50 days in length and moved up from summer to spring so participants would be dealing with a more challenging daily schedule. Significant funding support for OOOT2 was secured from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the United Way chipped in to help fund some of the preparatory work.
With the added length of the project and 10 of 14 participants having already completed OOOT1, this second effort was very different. Many participants were anxious about their own success because they were understanding where it was all heading and feeling the pressure of an impending major life change. Parents felt the anxiety of their adult children and some tried to ease their children's worries by diminishing the connection between the project and future housing transitions. There were some difficult times but once again the participants showed they were capable of more than most anyone expected. The project also revealed that they and their families had a lot of work to do in preparing for taking the next big step of their lives: moving out!
Although both OOOT projects showed that participants were capable of a high degree of independence, protection-related concerns remained paramount for many families. LiveWorkPlay initially tried to address these worries by designing a self-contained new build housing solution with a peer network, common spaces, and live-in supports. The main advantage of this concept was the amount of well-intentioned power and control that could be exerted over the inhabitants. The disavantages, which were not as easily seen or discussed at the time, included placing significant limits on the personal growth and quality of life potential for those living within the proposed bubble of protection. This model was more about responding to fear and anxiety than responding to hopes and dreams.
Thankfully implementation of the original concept was held up by many complications, and in particular continuous delays in the issuing of a request for proposals from the Action Ottawa affordable housing program, which would have formed the financial basis for the new build project.
The delay was indeed a fortunate one. It gave the organization time to look at other options and to think about what type of housing strategy would be a fit with the LiveWorkPlay mission of self-advocacy and contributing citizenship. Considered in this light, it became clear that LWP could not support any type of housing solution that was based on "protecting" people with intellectual disabilities from the rest of the world. What was needed was a way to keep the peer network concept from the OOOT projects without creating an artificial and institutional environment to do that.
In the spring of 2006 meetings were held with all SMILE participants and their parents/guardians to discuss a new strategy. The new concept would retain the importance of a peer network, but would be built around the development of a broad circle of supports, rather than focused on a self-contained/institutional-style environment controlled by LiveWorkPlay.
The new plan was met with some excitement but again with a great deal of worry. The original new build concept was a model that responded directly to fears and worries, and the new strategy was more challenging. This was reinforced at Visioning Day 2006 when many parents revealed that they are "burnt out" and shared that taking the next step with housing is proving very difficult. The general sentiment expressed (with notable exceptions) was that it is easier to protect their children at home than take on the risk-oriented task of supporting them into a more independent living situation. But parents were also realistic in recognizing that they cannot keep their children at home forever, and that the work of making that transition needs to happen now - when they are in a position to help with that effort - than later in life then when they may need support themselves. Many families were looking to LWP to help them with this critical step.
Starting in September 2006, LiveWorkPlay began providing that help by assisting participants and families to focus on concrete plans and timelines, and also hosted a self-advocacy conference in November that helped many families take a step forward.
In early December 2006 LiveWorkPlay released the organization's formal housing strategy and invited all LWP families to review it by attending a meeting on December 6th to discuss the concept and gauge their interest. There was an overwhelming response, and it was announced that two families had already taken the step of committing to the plan by purchasing units. LiveWorkPlay announced the pending purchase of a unit for participants from families of lesser means. And with that On Our Own Together - Again! was launched.
For more information about ongoing developments watch this space!
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153 Chapel Street, Suite 300 | Ottawa, Ontario | K1N 1H5 | 613-235-9550
info@liveworkplay.ca | www.liveworkplay.ca
Charitable Registration 89622 2775 RR 0001
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