Housing

Supported Independent Living

Nearly 150 consumers at Community Connections receive apartment supports through the Supported Independent Living (SIL), making it the largest component of the housing program.

Most consumers live in one- or two-bedroom apartments that are clustered in small buildings with 2-6 units. This arrangement creates opportunities for program participants to socialize with one another while also becoming integrated into the larger community. Residents take turns hosting periodic community meetings led by the program coordinator. These meetings are an opportunity to plan occasional events like picnics or pizza parties, to raise safety concerns, discuss neighborhood issues, identify maintenance problems, or to discuss emerging interpersonal problems between residents. One program goal is to develop additional single-person units and to assure that people do not have to share bedrooms in order to make housing affordable.

A small number of independent living slots feature 8 hours a day of on-site staffing with one meal provided to the residents. This part of the housing network serves as a bridge between the 24-hour staffed group homes and the mainstream apartment program. This is useful to a small number of consumers desiring to live independently but where that appears to be too big a leap to them or seems risky for one reason or another. More flexible add-on supports guided by the “supported housing” approach are needed in the mainstream apartments, an area in which we plan to significantly expand.