Options in Community Living logo featuring outlines of different people
 Options in Community Living

 

 

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Who We Support

Kinds of Help

Community Building

Options Publications

Self-Directed Services

Links to Other Sites 		What Kinds of Help Does Options Provide?


Options staff provide or arrange whatever assistance a person needs and wants in order to live successfully in the community. Options helps each person to identify his/her personal needs and preferences and to organize ways to meet those needs. This may include help in finding and selecting housing or roommates, in arranging for live-in support, in furnishing and moving into a new apartment, or in gaining access to community resources for transportation, employment, leisure-time or financial assistance. It may involve monitoring, coordinating or advocating with other service agencies who provide services to the person. It often entails teaching skills in home maintenance, shopping, money management, meal planning, health, and self-care.

Options' believes that we are able to provide our most effective services to individuals when we develop a relationship with the person being supported. Through that relationship, we are able to effectively offer suggestions, a "friendly ear", or companionship to help people make decisions, solve problems and develop satisfying social activities and relationships. Options staff also provide a variety of types of practical help with the complexities of everyday living and in times of emergency or crisis. Options has a 24 hour answering service and staff are on-call at all times that the office is closed.

Options supports people to have assistance from paid roommates or live-in personal care attendants, with support ranging from 2 hours per day to 24-hour support. Other people live on their own or with a peer roommate, with varying degrees of come-in staff support ranging from visits several times per day, to weekly visits, or as needed. Since services are long-term in nature, turnover is relatively infrequent, perhaps two to four people per year.

an image of a painting by Phil Porter calledJames Madison Park Converted into Hawaii

James Madison Park Converted into Hawaii
by Phil Porter

image of ink like drawing of rowhouses
Copyright © 1999 by Options in Community Living