New facility fosters abilities

The Centre at Javit Court has opened; Rayen Workshop closes in December.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Mahoning County's adults with disabilities, who are living longer and increasing in number, have a new, innovative place in which to receive daytime habilitation services.
The first clients arrived Sept. 6 at the Centre at Javit Court, Mahoning County Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Board's new facility at 153 Javit Court. A public open house is scheduled for Oct. 20 from 5 to 7 p.m.
The Javit Court facility addresses several issues and needs, said Larry Duck, MRDD superintendent.
The trend over the last 25 years is for citizens with disabilities to live longer, primarily because of improved medical care, Duck said.
Also, he said, more is understood about the aging process for people who are mentally retarded, they are getting more attention, and more money is being spent on services for them.
The Centre at Javit Court provides the space needed in which to deliver habilitation services, which serve to stimulate and maintain clients' current skills, Duck said.
People and services
There are about 450 people in Mahoning County's MRDD's adult services programs, 95 of whom are age 55 and older. The oldest client just celebrated her 80th birthday.
Adults services include the Seniors (retirement) Program, sheltered workshops, community-supported employment and now the Centre at Javit Court.
MRDD's 35 medically fragile clients, who either can't or don't want to work, will be gradually integrated into the Javit Court building, said Jim Groner, habilitation director there. Currently, they are in the workshops or at home and not getting the services best suited to them, he said.
The center's staff of 14, including Rebecca Borman, habilitation coordinator, all formerly worked at the Leonard Kirtz School building, where the Seniors Program was housed.
Moving the Seniors Program out of the school has other advantages, Duck said.
It frees up 6,000 square feet at the school, making room for expansion of programs there. Also, the added capacity at the new facility served to eliminate the waiting list for adult services, Duck said.
Building changes
The Centre at Javit Court formerly housed Gateways to Better Living's 32-bed residential facility. Gateways is a private nonprofit agency serving adults who are mentally retarded and/or developmentally disabled. In 2002, MRDD purchased Gateway's 6,000-square-foot administrative office building on Javit Court for $160,000 and spent another $175,000 on renovations. That building is now home to MRDD's community services unit case workers and support staff, Duck said.
As part of the deal, Gateways gave MRDD its 17,000-square-foot, 32-bed residential facility. It is on four acres and has two pavilions on the property.
The building, erected in 1979, has a $450,000 annual mortgage payment. However, as long as it is used for MRDD services, the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities forgives payment of the mortgage over the 40-year amortization period. MRDD spent about $2.3 million on construction and renovation of the Centre at Javit Court.
To build a fourth workshop, which was discussed, would have cost $6 million to $7 million, making it economically unfeasible. Also, a vocational workshop would not have provided the right programming for habilitation services, Duck said.
On the down side, opening of the Javit Court program will lead to the closing of the Rayen Workshop, 945 W. Rayen Ave., Youngstown, in December. The Rayen Workshop is one of MRDD's three sheltered workshops operated by the Mahoning Adult Services Corp. (MASCO). The others are: Bev Workshop, 825 Bev Road; and the Meshel Workshop, 160 Marwood Circle.
The MRDD Board has already laid off management personnel at the Rayen facility, and the rest of the employees will be laid off when the workshop closes, Duck said.
Because of the reallocation of state MRDD funds, Gateways to Better Living will receive $1.5 million in 2006 to operate a sheltered workshop for its 130 residential clients who are mentally retarded. Duck said Gateways is talking to Mahoning County about leasing the Rayen facility. Also, Gateways has agreed to interview MRDD staff members who are being laid off for potential employment there.
By contract, laid off union employees will be placed on call-back status for three years. They also will have first rights on substitute work and, if qualified, can apply for MRDD job openings that occur, Duck said.
Regarding MRDD clients, none will lose vocations services, though there may be some reassigning. Gateways clients will go to the Gateways workshop. Those under the auspices of MRDD will attend one of the two remaining MRDD-run workshops, Duck said.
Javit Court amenities
The Centre at Javit Court is designed to give the clients the stimulation needed to maintain their current skills, Duck said.
The building has wide corridors, doors and changing rooms for ease in getting around. The walls and ceilings have varied textures and colors, and there is soft indirect lighting. There is a therapy pool; aroma, sound and massage therapy; and a room with bubble tubes that change color depending on the voice or the clapping of hands.
A new, shiny building is nice, but what's really innovative here is the programming called Discovery Stations, Groner said.
Clients switch to new activity stations every 45 minutes. There are enough activities to easily fill up a client's day, he said.
"We respect individuality and personal preference, but we also introduce new things," Groner said.
"Quality of life is very important. That's what self-determination is all about. They tell us what they want, and we try to get there," Groner said.
alcorn@vindy.com