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New living option coming for people with developmental disabilities

Local government officials and advocates for people with disabilities ceremonially break ground on a transitional housing facility for people with disabilities.
Brett Dahlberg
/
WXXI News
Local government officials and advocates for people with disabilities ceremonially break ground on a transitional housing facility for people with disabilities.

A new transitional home for people with disabilities is officially under construction in Pittsford.

The home will be the second transitional facility that CP Rochester has set up in the Finger Lakes region. The organization’s president and CEO, Mary Walsh Boatfield, said it’s part of a bigger push to give people choices in where and how they live.

“There is a huge need for this. I think individuals and their families want options,” Boatfield said.

The home is designed to support people with developmental disabilities as they make the move from living with their families to living on their own. Boatfield said it will house seven apartments, but there are already 20 people who want to get in.

One of those people looking for a spot is Brandon Burch. He said living in the transition apartments would be a good step to help him get ready to move into his own apartment. “I know that they will be great because they will have staff that will help me out with the goals that I need to do in order for me to live on my own,” he said.

For many of the people looking to live in the apartments, it would be their first time living away from the home, Boatfield said. She said the facility will have staff on hand to help people like Burch practice skills he will need for independent living.

“You need to learn safety. You’re living in your own apartment; you lock your door when you leave,” Boatfield said. “You might learn money management, and food prep, and getting up on time to go to work or to programs.”

The home is funded in part by a $375,000 state grant. State Sen. Joe Robach, who was on hand for the groundbreaking, said he wants to see more state funding for homes for people with disabilities, both in transitional facilities and more permanent situations. “There’s many people who aren’t going live independently,” Robach said. “Those waiting lists are growing in Monroe County, to the tune of about a thousand people.”

CP Rochester’s aim is to have people ready to leave the Pittsford home within about two years of when they move in. The organization said the apartments are expected to open in June.

This story is reported from WXXI’s Inclusion Desk.

Brett was the health reporter and a producer at WXXI News. He has a master’s degree from the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.