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Safe Haven in the news!!

 

Safe Haven Farm in the news again:

 

CINCINNATI ENQUIRER

BY JOHN JOHNSTON • JJOHNSTON@ENQUIRER.COM • SEPT 5, 2010 

Jim Wilson had lived with his parents all his life, so he was a bit nervous about moving to an unfamiliar Butler County farm in June. "I call it home now," says the lanky 33-year-old, dressed in T-shirt, jeans and work boots. He especially enjoys working with the animals. "We got alpacas, chickens, cats, dogs, sheep."Wilson is among 16 adults with autism who live at Safe Haven Farms in Madison Township, about eight miles northwest of Middletown. Safe Haven resident Joel Bolduc came out to visit the alpacas at the farm.
A staff of about 50 helps the residents, who began moving in last May.It’s the first program of its kind in Greater Cincinnati. The former horse farm, which by next year will have 24 residents, is the first program of its kind in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, and one of seven farm communities in the U.S. designed for adults with autism.
"I don't think we ever dreamed we could find such a nice place for him to live," says Sue Wilson of Oxford, Wilson's mother. The driving force behind the project is Denny Rogers, a former GE Aviation manager from Liberty Township. He and his wife, Ann, connected with other parents, formed a nonprofit organization, raised $1.7 million and borrowed an equal amount to make the farm a reality. The Rogers' 30-year-old daughter, Emily, has a severe form of autism, which affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. As the number of children diagnosed with the disorder continues to rise - it stands at 1 in 110 today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - services for adults with autism have lagged, experts say. So some parents have taken action.
A year ago, The Enquirer told of Denny Rogers' dreams for Safe Haven Farms. Since then, much progress has been made, as he pointed out last week on a walking tour.The founders closed the deal on the 60-acre property in October. Four houses - each serving four residents - were built, with two more expected to open next spring. An above-ground pool, basketball court and softball field have been installed and a garden produces vegetables. Two greenhouses are under construction, and the rehabilitation of the 175-foot-long barn is in its early stages. A $300,000 gift from the Hatton Foundation provided the down payment for a $700,000 day-services building that will be the farm's centerpiece. When completed in November, the Hatton Center will feature an activity room, craft room, learning center, community room, sensory room, office and conference rooms and autism library. "We're not where we need to be yet," says Rogers, standing in the barn that one day will house a therapeutic riding program. "But there's lots of good reaction from parents. That's been gratifying.
"Dave and Sue Wilson are retired from Miami University, where he was a zoology professor and she was director of registration and records at the Hamilton campus. Like many parents of children with autism, they worried about what would happen to their son when they could no longer care for him."There are parts of him that are smart, and parts of him are still very childlike," Dave Wilson says. Because Jim is easily distracted and works slowly, "he's never been able to be successfully employed" in the mainstream workforce. He appeared destined to move into a group home and spend his days in a sheltered workshop doing repetitive, assembly-line work."He was OK with that," his father says. "But it's such a limited life. Whereas out here, he's blossoming." From a shady spot on the farm property, the Wilsons watched their son drive a tractor, then help volunteers from GE Aviation assemble greenhouses. He's more verbal and higher functioning than many of the residents, which allows him to hold a paid job as assistant farm manager.The Wilsons dismiss critics who say such farms take people with autism out of their communities and isolate them. "To us, (group homes) were isolating," Sue Wilson says. "This is more freedom, because they can come out of their house and walk around. There's lots to do right here."What's more, two 11-passenger vans regularly take residents to community activities. Like most other parents of the farm's residents, the Wilsons make frequent visits to the farm. They attend parent committee meetings, serve on the grant-writing committee and help oversee animal care."Even if we're not here, I know Jimmy's being looked out for by other parents. The staff are wonderful, but I still think you need a check-and-balance system," Dave Wilson says.
The farm's service provider is RMS Spectrum Services. The staff is paid through Medicaid waivers available to adults with autism. RMS, in turn, pays rent to Safe Haven Farms Inc. for use of the facilities. Residents pay $400 a month in rent to the farm. Some RMS staff had previous experience working with people with autism. And yet, "working with people with autism on a farm is new to everybody here," says farm director Ashley Johnson, a former special education teacher.
Eric Kazee, 46, of New Lebanon, whose 14-year-old son has autism, quit his job as an operations manager for Verizon Wireless to work as a support associate at the farm. "I felt like this is what I've been preparing for the past 14 years," he says. For most of the farm's residents, "it's the biggest transition of their life," he says. "And transition is painfully hard for most autistic individuals. It's our responsibility to make them feel as safe and loved and secure as possible."
That goal dovetails nicely with the peaceful farm atmosphere, says Mike Rogers, 34, a support associate and the son of Denny and Ann. "Once you get them (feeling safe and loved), you can work with them and build up the confidence." He's seen confidence grow in his sister, Emily, since she moved to the farm. "She's learning to trust the workers, trust the other people on the farm." She now has the quality of life her parents have long wanted for her. Mike Rogers thinks back 10 or more years to the time when Safe Haven was just a seed of an idea in his father's mind. "He pulled me aside and said, 'I want to build this farm. It's going to take a long time.' Now sitting here, seeing buildings up, it's amazing."
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Journal-News

Residency program offers activities, safe haven for adults with autism

By Josh Sweigart, Staff Writer   Sunday, June 20, 2010 

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MADISON TWP. — Here they’re not clients. They’re not patients. They’re farmers.

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They have a purpose. That is why Connie and Larry Proctor were finally comfortable with moving their 27-year-old son Adam — who has severe autism — out of their home and into Safe Haven Farms in May. He was one of the first residents at the farm: a group of new homes on a former horse ranch in Madison Twp. soon to also house an activity center, garden and other amenities.

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Adam is now the farm’s unofficial mailman. “His job is to go down to the mailbox every day and then he brings the mail back to the houses,” Connie said. Along with other residents, he also feeds the sheep, and has a number of activities he can be involved in. They’re not huge responsibilities, but they add a richness to the lives of the residents. “I (like) the functional activities — activities that seem to have meaning: growing food and then eating the food,” she said.

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The farm was purchased in November and buildings are still brand new or being built. It’s only the seventh of its kind in the country, and the second in Ohio. It shouldn’t be unique, according to those behind the nonprofit Safe Haven Farms. After the initial hurdles of the donations and energy needed to build the farm, it will function with the same government funding used to put individuals with disabilities in group homes.

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But it is unique. Connie Proctor said there was “no way” they could have gotten her son into one of the other farm homes. “There was like a waiting list over 100 years,” she said, adding that’s not an exaggeration. In addition to giving her son purpose, the secluded farm gives autistic adults — many of whom are stressed by confusion and loud noise — peace and quiet.

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And for parents who have spent decades worrying about the fate of their disabled children once they’re gone, it gives peace of mind. Connie said she comes to visit Adam several times a week. “Every time we see him he is very happy. Each time when we take him home for a visit and say are you ready to go back to the farm, he’s ready,” she said. “If he’s happy, we can be happy.”

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> Safe Haven Farms is being built on a former ranch in Madison Twp.

“We’re the parents that can’t die,” said Craig Moon. For 26 years, Moon and his wife have provided for every need of their daughter, Adria, who has severe autism. They weren’t comfortable leaving her in a home or facility. “These are our babies,” he said. “These are our children. We want to do what’s right and what’s best.” But the Moons know they won’t be around forever, and worried about what would happen to “Addie” when they were gone. They became involved in the project to build Safe Haven Farms, a farm home for autistic adults on a 60-acre former horse ranch in Madison Twp.

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It’s unlike anything else in the county: A miniature subdivision of homes, surrounded by a farm and woods with trails, and soon to boast a 9,000-square-foot activities building, horse arena and sports facilities. Someday they hope to add an indoor pool. “What better place could you want?” Moon said.

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With only six buildings housing four “farmers” each, the farm will fill up fast. Since the goal is to keep it serene, there are no plans to expand the operation. But organizers say the impact on the community will be larger. The project will create more than 50 jobs in Butler County. The day center will serve several autistic adults in the community who don’t live on the farm. And organizers hope to offer therapeutic riding to children and adults alike with developmental disabilities.

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Dennis Rogers, volunteer president of Safe Haven farms, said his dream is for the farm to become a model home for adults with autism. “It’s an underserved population, substantially,” Rogers said. “We hope to be a model for future homestead communities.”

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The hard part is building it, he said. Construction is being funded with roughly $1.7 million in private donations and a bank loan of roughly the same amount. Plus, an army of volunteers from General Electric — which Rogers retired from — a few Eagle Scouts and other community members helped out. But once it’s up and running, it will be sustained with the same Medicaid waivers and Social Security benefits used to pay for housing and care at group homes or facilities.

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With autism rates ballooning in America — roughly one in 110 children born with the disability, by some estimates — Rogers said “we don’t have the ability to serve the adults we have now.”

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Patrick O’Lenick could be the most welcoming person alive. “Hello!” he says, arm outstretched. “How are you?” Then, 30 seconds later: “Hello! How are you?” O’Lenick, who is in his 40s, is one of the farm’s first residents. He roams freely around the farm — supervised by care provider Jenni Hubbard — and loves feeding the sheep.

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Hubbard said she has worked in homes before, but nothing like the farm. “They have freedom to walk around if they want to walk around,” she said. “They’re treated like you and I would want to be treated, and they’re given the opportunities you or I would want.”

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Care at the farm is provided by Cincinnati-based Residential Management Services. The workers specialize in autism. Ashley Cartell, RMS director at the farm, said autism comes in many forms — “If you know one person with autism, you know one person with autism,” she said — but there are common threads workers must know. These include being drawn to structured routines, relying on visual stimulation and problems with sensory overload.

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This describes Rogers’ 30-year-old daughter Emily, whose quality of life at a Middletown group home was worrying him. She has trouble with crowded, loud situations. “Her world kind of evolved into staying in the basement of her house in Middletown watching videos all day,” he said. At Safe Haven, Rogers is hopeful she can have a richer life. She can still sit in her room if she likes, but she lives in a house with features specially designed for autistic adults — extra security, built-in shelving, added soundproofing. And if she decides to leave, she can interact with the animals or walk to the activities center, and come home when she’s ready.

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“It’s just a home,” he said, which makes it much more than that.     Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or jsweigart@coxohio.com

 

Also Check out the article in the Cincinnati Enquirer, September 17, 2009 in section C:

Group looks to offer lifelong care   By John Johnston  jjohnston@enquirer.com

Emily Rogers, who is 29, spends much of each day in her Middletown home viewing videotapes of TV
shows such as "Family Feud" and "Wheel of Fortune." She laughs at a part she likes, rewinds the tape
and watches it again. Over and over.  "If you watch her, you'd say she's happy," says her father, Denny Rogers of Liberty Township. "But it's  just not the quality of life we want for her."  Emily has a moderate to severe form of autism, a developmental disability that affects her ability to  communicate and interact with others. Unable to make conversation, she utters only a word or two at a time. She becomes agitated by certain sounds, such as a cough or whistle. She relies on a caregiver  24/7 in the home her parents bought for her.  Suitable community programs aren't available for their daughter, so Denny and Ann Rogers banded with  other parents to start the non-profit Safe Haven Farms, a $3.2 million project where up to 24 adults with  autism will live and work, aided by a specially trained staff.  The founders expect to close a deal this month on 60 rural acres in Butler County's Madison Township,  about eight miles northwest of Middletown. Construction will begin soon after, and the timetable calls for  the first residents to move in next spring. It will be the first program of its kind in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, and one of about a  half dozen farm communities in the U.S. that cater to adults with autism. The closest is Bittersweet Farms near Toledo.  "We feel it's become a mission for the rest of our life - that that's why we were put here," Ann Rogers says. When Emily was born, about three in 10,000 children were diagnosed with autism. "I don't think I'd ever heard the word," says Denny Rogers, a former GE Aviation manager who took early retirement this year to work full time on Safe Haven Farms. He is board president. Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 1 in 150 children have autism, a more than 20-fold increase. Sometimes lost amid questions about what causes autism and why its prevalence has increased - neither answer is known - is this: What happens when all those children become adults? "If I were to grade our country on adult services for individuals with autism, I'd have to give it an F," says Jeff Sell, vice president of advocacy and public policy for the Autism Society of America. "There are just very few options out there. "It's probably the most crucial issue we face in the autism community, but it's just not something you see a lot of people talking about." Unless it's your family that needs help.....

Unemployed pushing out disabled residents for jobs Jobless rate at 62 percent for residents with disabilities
By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Middletown Journal, Sunday, August 30, 2009

When Cheryl Callsen watches her 21-year-old son sit idle, she can see his frustration. “Andrew’s got a lot to offer and, like anyone else does, he gets bored sitting around all the time,” she said of her son who was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, which is on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. “He wants a job.”But with so many people out of work, even entry-level jobs such as bagging groceries are hard to find. While nationally the unemployment rate is 9.4 percent, U.S. Census data puts that figure at more than 62 percent for those with disabilities. “Honestly, the toughest question from my clients these days is, ‘When are you going to find me a job?’ ” said Melissa Engle of Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley, who has been working with Andrew to find him a job through the agency’s employment services.

The challenge for agencies like Goodwill and the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities is to break through those employment barriers. Mark Miller, contract services coordinator with DD, said the hope is once there has been a successful placement, more jobs will open up for their clients at that business.“Once (people with disabilities) find their niche and are trained, they typically stick with those jobs for quite some time,” he said. “It’s win-win for everyone.” “I mostly look forward to getting a job to see what I can do to help the community,” Andrew said. Agencies fight a tough market, perceptions about developmentally disabled. More than anything, Andrew Callsen just wants a job*. The 21-year-old Madison Twp. resident, just like any other kid fresh out of school, has spent the last several months learning different job skills and figuring out what he really wants to do in life……

* Andrew Callsen plans to join the day program at Safe Haven Farms in the spring of 2010.