Home Provides Full Life To Developmentally Disabled Adults

It looks like any other house on East Ridgewood Avenue.

That's by the design of its owner, Spectrum for Living, which provides a group home for seven developmentally disabled adults at the house at 360 E. Ridgewood Ave.

The house's unassuming appearance reflects the nonprofit's mission of allowing adults with developmental disabilities to live full, independent, normal lives.

"You feel like you're in a house right now, and that's what we try to give them," said Lauren Turiello, director of development for Spectrum.

The Paramus home, at two stories, is the biggest of Spectrum's group homes. The seven residents inside are all able to walk up and down the stairs.

Aside from the railings along the walls, though, the home looks like any other. Each resident's room is decorated to their liking.

A Jon Bon Jovi poster adorned one woman's room, while Giants posters lined another bedroom wall.

Janet Spence, program director for the Paramus home, said Spectrum clients have more independence than they might in an "institution."

"It's like living in an apartment with your roommate," Spence said.

The residents "work," too. They spend their days at Spectrum's adult training centers, where they work on crafts, draw and learn other skills. Developing and maintaining these skills is important as the residents, who are all over 21, age.

Some clients who have the requisite motor skills are are placed in real paying jobs, earning a wage for stuffing envelopes, or assembling pens. In one instance, Gucci contracted for a group of Spectrum residents to remove labels mistakenly placed on teddy bears that the company wanted to resell.

"We're really disproving the notion that if you have a developmental disability, you're obviously useless to society," said Sarah Weiss, development associate for Spectrum.

The staff is trained extensively to work with the broad range of disabilities represented by the clientele at the 19 Spectrum residences, Turiello said. There are at least three staff members for each resident 24 hours a day, and even if a client is hospitalized, a staff member will be at their bedside.

"We give families the opportunity to sleep at night knowing their child is taken care of," Turiello said.

While its intermediate medical center, group homes, apartments and adult training centers comprise 26 facilities, Spectrum is still growing, Turiello said. The organization is planning to open a group home in Wall Township this year, but there is still an 8,000-person waiting list to get into one of its programs, she said.

The organization serves hundreds of clients through its homes, adult training and community outreach programs.

Spectrum supports itself with state and private money, as well as fundraising. The non profit has an annual budget of $37 million, while it costs between $70,000 and $100,000 a year to support a client for a year.

Spectrum is teaming with , which is giving 20% of its proceeds to Spectrum for customers who present a donation form on Feb. 19.

Spectrum is always looking for volunteers to spend time with clients. Email Marie Hacker at mhacker@spectrumforliving.org for more information.

"If you are interested, come in, see who we are and see what we do," Turiello said.