History of Supervised Living Services and Homes for Persons with Developmental and Physical Disabilities

Services for the developmentally disabled have been evolving over the past 30 years. The need to create residences for persons with developmental disabilities began in the 1970s with a shift in thought from the housing of "patients" in large, hospital-type institutions to an independent-living model that allowed clients with challenges to become active participants in the life of their own communities. Catholic Charities saw the need and made the commitment toward providing services for persons with developmental disabilities who wanted to live as independently as possible in their own home.

Mother Teresa Home in Cold Spring opened in March, 1981, as a Class A Intermediate Care Facility for 14 adults with developmental disabilities. The original intent of the programming was to provide independent living skills training in a home-like setting where residents could learn the skills necessary to live in a more independent setting such as an apartment. The average age of these initial residents was 43 years old, and they were very independent in taking care of their basic needs. Within the first few years, four of the residents moved from the program into more independent settings within the community. They were replaced with individuals that were older and not as independent.

Over the years, it became apparent that the niche Mother Teresa Home needed to fill was to meet the needs of older persons with developmental disabilities who were less independent and had mobility impairments. Thus, two major changes occurred in the program in the late 1980's: Catholic Charities remodeled the building and living quarters to make them more easily accessible; more staff were hired to meet the challenges of aging residents who required more one-on-one care.

Throughout the 1990s residents continued to age, many requiring more adaptive equipment and assistance to remain in the community. In 1994 Catholic Charities opened an adult foster care home for adults with developmental disabilities. St. Luke's Home in Cold Spring offers supervised living services to four adults and maintains an even more home-like environment than Mother Teresa Home. In June of 1994 three residents of Mother Teresa Home moved to St. Luke's, leaving three vacancies that were quickly filled by individuals in their late sixties, bringing the average age within the home to 65 years old.

Mother Teresa Home moved from an intermediate care facility to a supervised living services home in 1996 as a response to the State of Minnesota's goal to provide smaller, more home-like living situations for persons with developmental disabilities. Shortly thereafter Bethany Home (opened in 1996), St. Ann's Home (opened in 1996), also located in Cold Spring. Catholic Charities also operates St. Francis Home in Waite Park.

Today each of these five residences is home to four persons with developmental disabilities who take pride in their ability to live life to the fullest within the comfort and family-like environment of their own homes and community, and with the support of resident staff that are welcomed as "guests" to their home.

In mid-March of 2006, four clients moved into the new CAHI house in Paynesville, Minnesota. The house is a handicapped accessible, four-bedroom house built to offer a Community Alternative for Handicapped Individuals (CAHI).

The project, begun in late September of 2005, was undertaken at the urging of a local Paynesville family who had a need to find a suitable living arrangement for their brother, who had become paralyzed in an automobile accident. The staff from Catholic Charities researched and developed the building plan which included the latest accommodations for the physically disabled. These include: extra-wide doors; roll-in showers; appliances and electrical outlets designed for wheelchair accessibility; additional adaptive and therapeutic equipment.

Catholic Charities goal, like that of the adult foster care homes for adults with developmental disabilities, was to integrate the residents back into the community through a supportive, home-like setting that was staffed 24 hours a day to meet their unique needs and to offer services that would allow them to become as independent as possible.