Trish Albanese’s son Mike was growing up.  Approaching age 21, he watched his brother and friends his age move in with peers and establish their independent lives. Like his brother and friends, Mike wanted those things, too.

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Trish looked at residential opportunities for Mike and learned that the options were essentially non-existent; group homes had years-long wait lists and most importantly,  Mike’s choice was to live someplace other than a group home, in his own apartment in his community alongside his friends.

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Left with no real options, Trish designed a staffing support system and home for Mike and others like him. Her years of financial experience with a service provider agency gave her the knowledge and skills to create a model that works for the individual, is innovative, cost-effective and focuses on choice, respect and dignity.

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Once the service and support model was designed, next came the building which was designed around the support needs of its residents.  In this way, the building design actually becomes part of the support model.  In addition to individual apartments, the building would have several common areas where residents and friends could gather, providing opportunities to engage while providing support staff ability to support more than one resident at a time, thus lowering support costs.

 

Once the design was formalized, it was no coincidence that the design of the building mirrored many senior assisted living communities with one floor, individual apartments and a variety of community spaces.  This type of building is the gold standard for senior living communities which allows for natural opportunities to provide shared support.

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