Day program for adults with disabilities scheduled to launch in August | The Glencoe Anchor
By Danielle Gensburg, Staff Writer – February 20, 2015
The Glencoe Anchor
Leisure in Full Effect (LIFE), a new year-round adult day program that provides recreation and community services for North Shore residents with disabilities, is coming to the Glencoe Park District’s Takiff Center.
“We’re really excited to have the NSSRA adult day program because it’s utilizing our resources here, the incredible recreation amenities and serving an underserved population in our town,” Glencoe Park District Executive Director Lisa Sheppard said. “It’s just an opportunity to bring NSSRA participants into our facility and a great partnership between the two organizations.”
The program is being offered by the Northern Suburban Special Recreation Association (NSSRA), an organization that extends the recreation and social services of the 13 North Shore community park districts and recreation departments who partner with them, including: Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Deerfield, Highwood, Highland Park, Glenview, Northbrook, Northfield, Riverwoods, Glencoe, Winnetka, Kenilworth and Wilmette.
“Our mission is to enrich the lives of people with disabilities in our partner communities through quality recreation services,” NSSRA Executive Director Craig Culp said. “The LIFE program focuses on recreation, independence, fitness and wellness, socialization and a connection to the community beyond your home and on a daily basis.”
Culp said that LIFE will serve adults with disabilities across the North Shore who are 22 years and older as well as high school graduates and will require a minimum of a one-to-four ratio or staff to participant level of support.
At a Glencoe Park District Board of Park Commissioners meeting Tuesday night, Feb. 17, board members officially approved housing the LIFE program in one of the Takiff Center’s community rooms, which will allow its participants access to a number of the center’s other amenities, including an upper level kitchen, washrooms, fitness center, art room and outdoor fields.
“We came up with the LIFE program and targeted the Glencoe Park District’s Takiff Center because it’s a member partner and because of its fantastic location with tons of amenities. It was a really nice fit for us,” Culp said.
The program, which is scheduled to launch in early August, will be held at the Takiff Center Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., 48 weeks throughout the year and focuses on four main areas, including independent living and continuing education, socialization, recreation and leisure, and community integration.
LIFE is the second NSSRA adult day program for residents with disabilities on the North Shore. Enriched Lifestyles for Adults (ELA), which is based out of the Center for Enriched Living in Riverwoods, was started exactly 10 years ago and reached its maximum capacity a year and a half ago, according to Culp. Unlike LIFE, ELA’s staff to participant ratio is one-to-one or one-to-three, making it a program that caters to individuals with more severe needs and on a one-on-one basis.
“We had started talking about expanding the ELA program for more than a year. We worked with local high schools in the area and conducted studies about a year and a half ago to determine how many children will be graduating out of special education programs in the next 10 years. We found it was 240 students,” Culp said. “The need is definitely there.”
Culp also said that NSSRA members sent out email surveys and held focus groups for North Shore families and began working directly with the Glencoe Park District about three or four months ago after deciding to pursue the Takiff Center for the new program’s location.
“With both programs being in our territories and each having their own buses or vehicles, once LIFE gets going, we’ll be able to schedule events between the two programs. We’ll have numerous opportunities to bring all the groups together, and LIFE has the potential to double the size of the number of folks that we can get together,” Culp said.
Culp said that LIFE will hold up to 20 participants and that a typical day involves having residents read the daily news on iPads so that they are aware of current events and what’s happening in the world, split into groups to participate and rotate between different activities, such as art, cooking, and fitness, and have lunch.
Similar to ELA, LIFE participants will also be involved in a number of field trips, outdoor activities and volunteer opportunities that allow them to explore and give back to their local communities and Chicago. Culp said that the Takiff Center will open up a number of opportunities for residents, including access to the beach, the green fields behind the building, Watts Park and many others.
“We do many trips in the Chicagoland area. We go out to lunch, visit Barnes and Nobles, or go to the library. We also volunteer with a lot of groups in the area, like the Salvation Army and the Cook County Forest Preserves, and our group of adults have a tremendous impact in the community through volunteering,” Culp said.
Entry into the LIFE program requires a therapeutic recreation assessment process, where NSSRA staff will work with individual families and conduct a certified assessment to determine what type of need each participant in the program will require.
“The program is open to everybody,” Culp said. ”The goal of the assessment is to determine what needs are necessary for the participant to have a safe and successful program experience. Beyond our mission, it’s all about setting up a safe and very fun environment.”
Registration for LIFE opened up about two weeks ago. The program costs $15,000 for five days a week and less for residents who are interested in participating only two or three days each week.
Culp said that the NSSRA has already set up two assessments with families and is looking to acquire eight before it can officially launch in August.
“It’s a fantastic program and just the scope of it. I’m so proud of the opportunities that we provide. What better way to spend your day than with a fantastic group of friends and staff that are focusing on things to do, travel and recreation, and seeing things that are happening in our communities,” Culp said.
Culp said that the program’s staff is really dedicated to residents and getting to know them, and that the program is so much more than the activities it offers.
“There’s athletics and wellness, recreation and leisure, but more importantly these individuals are building and developing relationships with folks they didn’t know before who work at the park district. It’s just a great group of people who love others and want to get to know them.”