Jimmy's too busy doing his job at Therapeutic Living Centers to stop when Executive Director Ford Neale calls out to him. Jimmy, who is severely retarded, is among 70 residents at this Reseda facility - one of only a handful of places nationwide equipped to deal with both blindness and developmental disability in adults.
Though Jimmy has partial sight, he has help finding his way as he empties trash cans. Light and dark paint differentiates the halls, as does indoor carpet. The door to each classroom bears a three-dimensional sign. Outside the learning kitchen, a cup, saucer, and utensils are embedded in wood.
Less than five years ago, Jimmy, now 46, was in a state institution, so afraid of others he hid behind a barricade of chairs. Today, he goes to concerts and baseball games.
"Everyone here is working toward his or her maximum independence," says Neale. "The question is: what can you do today that you didn't do yesterday?"
Therapeutic Living Centers opened to 11 residents in 1977, created by parents eager to keep their children out of state institutions, unable to place them anywhere else. Now it has 10 homes within a close radius in the San Fernando Valley, each overseen by live-in caregivers. The resident-to-staff ratio: 2 or 3 to 1.
It also operates day programs for adults and children, including a Saturday program for developmentally disabled children and their healthy siblings.
In addition to four homes, the primary campus has offices, classrooms, gardens, an exercise zone, and a swimming pool. Residents and day visitors spill from art, music, and kitchen classes into a sunlit common area. A young woman practices walking with a cane, assisted by an orientation and mobility specialist, one of an interdisciplinary team of professionals.
A $200,000 grant from the Weingart Foundation is supporting construction of a 9,000-square foot addition that by 2001 will house expanded services for children and adults, along with a new program for seniors.
For some, success is measured in learning how to pick up a fork - or how not to hurt themselves. Others ride horses, fold laundry, plant vegetables, and visit Disneyland. "This is not a place for people to come and sit," explains Lynn Robinson, executive director, planning and development. "It's a place to have a life."
