News

By Amy Cavalier, staff writer
Gates-Chili Post
March 6, 2008

Photo by Carrie Ann Grippo
Community Integration Assistant Tammy Crofoot looks over a Halloween scrapbook with Nancy Travis, a client in Lifetime Assistance’s Golden Opportunities.

A service provider for people with developmental disabilities since 1978, Lifetime Assistance Inc. has a lot of celebrating to do this year.

Lifetime’s Patti Keim turns 60 on March 9. While that’s reason enough to celebrate, it’s her one-year anniversary for quitting smoking that Keim would like to recognize.

“We’re going to celebrate it, right?” she asked Frank Moreland, community integration coordinator at Lifetime Assistance Inc.’s Gold Opportunities day services site in Greece. “Can I have a party?”

Gerry Dean is turning 74. Born with developmental disabilities, his birthday is a milestone he’s eagerly awaiting.

“This time there’s gonna be a big party,” he said.
Gerry Dean is turning 74. Born with developmental disabilities, his birthday is a milestone he’s eagerly awaiting.

“This time there’s gonna be a big party,” he said.

“A nice big cake, and I’m gonna invite Frank too,” he added, referring to Moreland.
It all started in 1978, when Don and Donna Lowry joined five other families with developmentally disabled children to create Lifetime Assistance Inc.

“We started with a small day-treatment program on Clinton Street in Brockport,” said Amy Mitchell, director of day services for Lifetime.

Don and Donna Lowry are still involved in the agency, which turns 30 this year. A gala celebration is planned for Sept. 27 at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

Lifetime provides services for people with autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, mental retardation and neurological impairments. Lifetime’s more than 1,000 employees serve over 1,800 individuals a year at over 40 locations. Lifetime Assistance headquarters is at 425 Paul Road in Chili. The individuals in Lifetime’s programs provide volunteer services to over 50 different agencies in the Rochester area, from basic food services, to cleaning, landscaping and even shredding documents.

Two of the programs operated by Lifetime Assistance Inc. are celebrating 10-year anniversaries – Lifetime Occasions, a full-service catering division operated from the Paul Road site, and Golden Opportunities, a day program geared toward developmentally disabled adults who are getting on in age or showing signs of slowing down. Golden Opportunities is run at a facility on Weiland Road in Greece.

“The advances in the medical field means people are living longer,” said Kathy Miller, development coordinator for Lifetime Assistance. “The disabled population is going through the aging process just as the normal population. We’re living longer, staying healthier longer, and as the baby boomer population is aging, the demographics show that there is the same peak in the developmentally disabled population.”

People like Keim and Dean spend their weekdays at Golden Opportunities taking part in exercise groups, craft and scrapbooking, music therapy and trips to see bands and musical performances. A total of 45 individuals, ranging in age from their 30s to their 70s, attend the program Monday through Friday. Just as the activities are geared toward older adult interests and abilities, the space also uses open floor plans and other features to make the space easier to maneuver for older adults, or those with wheelchairs or walkers. Folks have rocking and lounge chairs and pets to care for, like a tortoise and fish, and other fuzzy friends who visit frequently.

“One of the beauties of this program is we don’t have the pressure to rush things,” Moreland said. “Things are a little slower.”

The developmentally disabled adults who attend the Golden Opportunities program help the staff as well.

An avid gardener, Gerry Dean helps maintain the flower gardens. Bill Conrad, 58, uses an electric wheelchair to get around but it doesn’t prevent him from helping dispatch everyone to their buses at the end of the day. Sitting in the office, he’ll watch out the window as the buses arrive at the end of the day. Then he’ll hit the page button, lift the receiver to his mouth and he’ll call the number. He recently had to master a new phone system.

“He tells folks he’s the director of transportation here,” said Moreland.

Dean has also visited area elementary schools to show young kids how his wheelchair works and to help break stereotypes young people may have about individuals with disabilities. He’s also involved with the Jerry’s Kids telethon, something he’s done since he was a young child.

Having a site specifically for the older individuals in Lifetime’s programs allows the staff to cater to their medical, physical and psychological needs better, said Moreland. Staff are trained in the different areas of aging by Dr. Michael Henderson, Lifetime’s medical director and a staff member at the University of Rochester. It also delays the need for individuals to move into a nursing home.

“The biggest challenge that our individuals face is when they undergo a change in their health status, their walking, eating or ability to care for themselves,” said Moreland. “These life changes can cause them to lose their living arrangements ... Now we’re able to accommodate these life changes better and keep them the community longer.”

In the past few years, Lifetime has been working on making their homes smaller, shifting from having 10 to 12 people living in one residence to four or five individuals. As the agency prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary, there’s a lot to celebrate, from the success stories of the individuals they serve to the Lowrys’ recent 2007 Jefferson Award for public and community service. The couple received the award in May 2007 in Washington, D.C.

“Steadfast for 30 years, the core of our commitment continues to be the simple belief that we must care for those who cannot care for themselves,” said Donald Lowry.

Amy Cavalier can be reached at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 243, or at acavalier@mpnewspapers.com.