If you or one of your loved ones is unable to live with full independence, you may be worried about finding the care you need. There are countless nursing homes, public institutions, and other establishments for people who are aging or who experience disabilities, but it’s hard to tell which ones will provide what you need.
One option you should strongly consider is community living services. This person-centered assistance style focuses on helping adults achieve some level of independence, participate in their communities, and live as they choose.
What Is Community Living?
Community Living Services help adults with a wide variety of abilities live semi-independently in apartments or houses. These programs often help older adults, people with developmental disabilities, major behavioral challenges, mental illness, dual diagnoses, or traumatic brain injury.
Services can include assistance with medications and transportation, support for financial matters, and social and recreational activities.
What Is Community Living Like?
People in community living situations have the opportunity to select their own menus, do or help out with their own cooking, and make decorative choices about their homes.
A Community Living Services provider will identify goals for each participant by going through a person-centered planning process with the participant and their family. From there, they will help the participant achieve their goals and develop self-determination by providing needed support for daily living.
Community Living Services are centered on helping adults with disabilities live as actively in the community as they choose. Service providers aim to ensure all citizens have the same opportunities to choose where to live, earn a living, participate in society, and make decisions about their lives.
What Are the Benefits of Community Living?
There are several major advantages of using community living services rather than a public institution or nursing home:
1. Social connection.
People participating in Community Living can often have a level of social connection that they may not have in a nursing home or other institutional setting. They will have numerous opportunities to interact with neighbors, family members, and friends.
In many cases, participants will have opportunities to work alongside people of all ability levels.
2. Lower costs.
Community living is less expensive than other options for most participants. A skilled nursing facility may cost $75,000 a year or more, and public residential facilities for people with disabilities are often hundreds of thousands of dollars. These costs are rarely covered by Medicare or private health insurance.
Unlike nursing and residential facilities, community living has been established as a legal right. In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Olmstead v. L.C. that people with disabilities must receive services in the most integrated settings possible.
3. Voice in the community.
People with disabilities and older adults often have unique perspectives that benefit the communities they live in. They tend to offer new ways of thinking about the world and wisdom collected over decades of life.
With Community Living Services, these adults are able to stay more active in their communities as co-workers, volunteers, and friends.
Where Can I Find Community Living in Western Washington?
Sunrise provides community living services for residents throughout the Everett and Snohomish city areas. As a provider of care services, we focus on individuals and seek to help each person live a full life with access to choices and an emphasis on dignity and respect
We have office locations in Everett, Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Vernon, Stanwood, Concrete, Sedro-Wooley, and Island County. Contact us today to learn more about local community living options.