By Kim O’Brien Root
Inside a modest, one-story house on a quiet Hampton street, Wendy Spivey wakes up each morning from under her beige-and-peach comforter. She gets dressed and dons one of her many pairs of shoes — the brown boots are a favorite right now.
Her days are spent doing activities such as arts and crafts, gardening, making cards for family members, playing games on an iPad or working with her therapists. She loves swinging on the front porch swing and gets visits from her mother every week.
Except for the pandemic going on, things couldn’t be better for Wendy.
“It’s the closest thing to home that we found,” says Joan Condon, Wendy’s mother. “It’s the best thing that ever happened to her. She’s so content there and has improved so much.”
Wendy lives in one of 10 group homes scattered across the Peninsula and run by VersAbility Resources. The Hampton-based organization helps people with disabilities live, work and thrive in their communities, providing early childhood services, student services, day and recreational support, residential living and employment programs.
Through the community living program, about 50 people live in group homes in Hampton, Newport News and York County, with each home housing four to six people with intellectual disabilities and often accompanying medical issues. Residents have care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with aides coming in and out in shifts, as well as specialized medical and therapeutic staff as needed. But more than just providing safe places to live, these homes give individuals — some of whom are the cognitive age equivalent of young children — the chance to experience freedom from their families while at the same time learning valuable life skills.
We acknowledge everyone who lives there as an individual first,” says Linda Kerns, VersAbility’s chief community living officer. “We give these individuals who are adults an opportunity to experience an independent living situation with their peers.”
Residents of the group homes all have personal goals, such as learning hygiene skills and how to do laundry, as well as community goals. Prior to the pandemic, the individuals went into the community to volunteer and to have fun. Some like to cook and focus on cooking skills; others like to bowl and participate in leagues.
“It really helps individuals develop skills and progress in ways they may not have not before,” Kerns says. “We find that people really do develop skills beyond what they thought they would.”
Wendy, who is 32, has a brain that never quite developed. Before finding a home with VersAbility about three years ago, she spent time in other group homes and programs, never quite finding the right fit. At VersAbility, her mother says, her spunky yet stubborn daughter has improved, developing better verbal skills as well as social skills.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit and everything locked down in March, VersAbility faced the extra challenge of caring for medically fragile individuals. Prior to COVID, residents of the homes would spend their days in VersAbility’s Day Support program, traveling elsewhere during the day for activities before returning home in the evenings. The pandemic meant the residents all had to stay put, with visitors limited.
Unfortunately, because of the coronavirus, big changes had to happen. To continue providing services, VersAbility shifted gears, instead bringing the Day Support program to the group homes. Since March, staff have gone inside the homes to do activities with the residents.
That meant the Day Support program, which serves 63 individuals who live with their families but depend on VersAbility during the day, had to cease. Prior to the pandemic, those individuals would come to VersAbility sites every day, either participating in hands-on activities, going out to volunteer for organizations like Meals on Wheels or getting to go on outings such as to the movies, parks or the aquarium.
To reach those individuals and keep them involved, VersAbility started up a Reach-Out program, making sure staff members were calling participants regularly and delivering activity kits to their homes. A similar Reach-Out program was started to help those who participated in VersAbility’s work program.
Brad and Ann-Marie Comer’s son, Parker, has been part of VersAbility since he was 17. At first, Parker, who is 33 but has the cognitive ability of a 5- to 8-year-old, really didn’t understand what was going on — he didn’t understand why he couldn’t go to VersAbility almost every day like he used to. And although he’s adjusted, his parents know he’d be happy if told he was going back.
“If we said tomorrow he’s going back to VersAbility, he’d be happy,” Ann-Marie says. “It’s given him a life. He has friends. He has social skills. He’s interacting with other people and has formed friendships.”
The activity kits that have been dropped off at their Newport News home have been extremely helpful, the Comers said, filled with activities such as paper airplanes and at Halloween, a pumpkin to decorate. Each time Parker’s group leader, Jacqueline Frederick, has stopped by with a new activity kit, “he’ll stand on the porch and she’ll stand on the sidewalk and they’ll talk,” Ann-Marie says. “They tell each other they miss each other.”
While it’s been disappointing not to have the Day Support program as an in-person resource, the Comers say they appreciate VersAbility’s efforts to keep everyone safe.
“We’re just very careful,” Kerns says. “It’s so important because our individuals are some of the most fragile.”
During the earlier days in the pandemic, the staff would take residents on “drive-by” visits to their loved ones’ homes on special occasions such as Mother’s Day. Birthday parties have consisted of cake on porches with family members coming by to blow kisses. More recently, outside visits have been allowed, at first with a barrier between visitor and resident and now spaced apart outside, wearing masks.
Condon hasn’t hugged her daughter in months, and she misses the car rides they used to take.
“It’s very hard,” Condon says, “but I’m very thankful I get the opportunity to see her, because she’s momma’s little girl. I tell her when the time comes and we can, I’ll probably run a tank of gas up.”
“With COVID keeping VersAbility’s services limited, the staff continues to look for new ways to keep its clients engaged,” Kerns says. Right now, they are looking to start a telehealth-type of program for the Day Support participants, figuring out a creative way for staff to meet with individuals via computers and engage them further. The staff is also looking at strategies to bring individuals back when the time is right, perhaps in small groups at first.
“We all miss the fact that he’s not able to go, and we long for the day when he can,” says Brad Comer. “The staff they have there are caring people, and they do a great job. Parker looking forward every day to going is a testament to what’s going on.”
Want to learn more about the Day Support and Residential programs at VersAbility and how to get involved? Contact us today at 757.896.6461 or visit our website at www.versability.org.