Account of visit to New York

During the 16.10 – 04.11.2008 period my mom and I visited New York. Our trip to New York was possible thanks to the FREE Agency (Family Residences & Essentials Enterprises). The Agency specializes, among other things, in administrating Group family homes for people with disabilities. Representatives of the FREE Agency, Mrs. Barbara L. Townsend and Mrs. Barbara Lehrer, who had visited Poland in June 2008, wanted to show us their achievements in care for people with disabilities. The main goal of our stay there was to see how these family homes are organized and Get to know the system solutions implemented in the care for people with disabilities in the state of New York.

For 3 weeks I was a resident of one of such family homes. I stayed in Kathy Johnsen Residence in Long Island and participated in All activities along with other residents of this Home. Besides me there were 7 other people living in this Home – 4 women and 3 men, age 24 – 50. All of them were heavily disabled due to cerebral palsy and and sorts of accidents. They moped around in wheelchairs. We All had great contact with each other.  The house was free of architectural barriers and adapted to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Each resident had his/Her own room. The common places in the house were: the kitchen, the living room, the dining room and the garden.’

We All had assistants to help us with everyday activities, such as: preparing meals, help getting dressed, bathing, feeding, administering medications. They would also spend the free time with us. Basically they were there for us 24 hours a Day. Each Morcing we would drive to a Day care Centre for a wide variety of activities, depending on our needs and interests. Each time we had to driver somewhere, we would use a specialty adapter van/car which was the property of a given Home. I attended All sorts of classes/works hops, for ex ample: Job training works hop, drama works hops, foreign language works hops, computer works hops and sports classes. All residents have guaranteed medical care and rehabilitation in a medical Centre run by the Agency. Its Staff consists of specialists in virtually All branches of medicine.

It felt great to be in a Home with great, positive atmosphere. In a place were residents treated as individuals and our every need was treated as priority. I also attended a gala organized to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the FREE Agency. In my free time I’ve had the opportunity to: be at a hockey game, eat at a typical American restaurants and take a trip to the ocean. I have also had the opportunity to visit Manhattan with its incredible skyscrapers and unique atmosphere. During my ocean trip I had the opportunity to polish up my English, Or should I say American English.

I’m so glad that I had the Chance to see how the everyday life of my American peers looks like. Unfortunately the solutions they have implemented are at east 30 years ahead of us. Both of the ladies I mentioned earlier believe that if we work hard we can Get to the point where they are right now in about 10 years. I sure hope they are right.

We have put together a presentation based on our visit to New York. I have presented it to my peers at a conference in Zamość. I encourage you to see it

Mateusz Sińczuk