Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo, Vice President of Admissions and Marketing Chapel Haven
Find Support for Young Adults with Special Needs across the United States...
What happens when young adults with disabilities age out of their Young Adult transitional programs? What happens when those young adults become senior citizens with medical and physical limitations in addition to their emotional special needs? These are vexing and painful problems that people with disabilities, as well as their families, face with great fear.
While very few agencies have ventured into serving senior adults with disabilities, Chapel Haven is preparing to do just that.
Chapel Haven was founded by two families on Chapel Street in New Haven, Conn. in 1972, to help adults with disabilities learn to live a more independent, adult lifestyle. This unique non-profit grew into a lifelong program for adults, who came to learn independent living skills but found much more: the ability to eventually manage living on their own with limited support from Chapel Haven's experienced staff. They were also helped to find paying jobs, easy transportation access, and most importantly, a satisfying circle of adult friends.
Forty five years later, Chapel Haven is now pioneering an expansion that promises to be a national model in accommodating the changing needs of adults with disabilities as they age.
Chapel Haven's expansion both for younger adults and older adults includes:
"With earlier detection and treatment, many individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders are doing better overall, but often need continued support as they enter adulthood," Dr. Volkmar said. "Chapel Haven has been a leader is providing such support to students interested in going on to college and adult independence. It is one of the few programs around the country to offer comprehensive support for individuals and their families."
Chapel Haven President Michael Storz said the expansion is borne of necessity, as a "tsunami" of young adults with a variety of disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders, are aging into adulthood, and as older adults will be looking for the same thing all adults are: a community in which they can age gracefully and among their friends.
"We are turning a leaf in Chapel Haven's playbook, charting the next 45 years of excellence in our
field," Storz said. "It has been heartbreaking to see some of our older adults have to leave our
program to enter nursing homes or assisted living facilities without the expertise in place to
serve them. With this expansion, we truly will become a lifelong program,
where adults with disabilities can continue to live among their friends and with the right
support."
Dr. Fred Volkmar, a Chapel Haven board member and an internationally renowned expert in autism as
the Irving B. Harris Professor at the Yale Child Study Center, explains: