Welcome to the Neighborhood

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

For young adults who have special needs, setting up a secure future is of utmost priority for many parents. That includes safe and inspirational housing where young adults can grow and become the best versions of themselves.

Terry Matlen of Birmingham, whose 34-year-old daughter Mackenzie Matlen has special needs, struggled for years to find the right home for her child where she could be independent but also have support to succeed. “About 10 years ago, when Mackenzie was finishing up a posthigh school program, I was wondering, ‘OK, what’s her future now?’” Terry Matlen recalls.

Though Mackenzie was working on vocational goals, the issue about where she was going to live in the future continued to press the Matlen family. “I’m not going to be here forever, and her father is not going to be here forever,” Terry explains. “I needed to set her up so that she is in a stable environment where I know she’ll be OK for the rest of her life.”

Working with other parents facing the same concerns for their children who have special needs, who were steadily becoming young adults, a handful of moms developed a program known as an Integrative Neighborhood in 2014. Inspired by a similar neighborhood in Washtenaw County, where young adults who have disabilities could rent units and live together in small supportive “pods,” the parents built a like-minded community in Farmington Hills.

“I was awestruck,” Terry says of initially learning about the Washtenaw County neighborhood. “These young adults were so happy to be on their own. They were so proud of their apartments.”

Now, local residents who have special needs can have the same housing opportunity. The first Oakland County pod is finally off the ground and thriving. Located at the Hunter’s Ridge complex, where Mackenzie Matlen will be moving to in a few weeks, five residents who have special needs share three apartments.

There, they socialize, encourage one another and learn how to be independent while developing crucial interpersonal and life skills. They’re also close enough to their parents to provide an important safety net for both the young adults and their families.

Integrative Neighborhoods of Oakland County, led by parent Melanie KoblinCohn, has even been able to hire its first Community Builder, a woman living in her own apartment paid for by the families of residents to help the young adults socialize. “My daughter went from zero friends to having a whole community of friends,” Terry explains of the neighborhood, which has been especially important during COVID-19 when most young adults were more isolated than ever.

At the Integrative Neighborhood, residents enjoy pool parties, pizza nights and even taking trips to places like Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum. “Before,

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FROM TOP: James Pentis, Stanley Wolf and Jacob Barron, IN members at an outing

COURTESY OF TERRY MATLEN

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Mackenzie was pretty isolated,” Terry says, adding her daughter previously lived at a different complex where these opportunities weren’t possible. Access became even more restricted throughout the pandemic when Mackenzie moved back home for a few months during the height of the crisis.

Terry wants more families who have adults with special needs to be able to learn about opportunities such as Integrated Neighborhoods of Oakland County.

“It takes a huge emotional and physical toll on the parents,” Terry says of having a child who has special needs. “It’s a job that never ends. The concern is that parents don’t often know where to go or what to do, so they keep their adult children home. Some of them are doing nothing other than watching TV.”

Knowing these neighborhoods are out there can give parents and their children hope, Terry believes. “My hope is that more people will come to the Integrative Neighborhoods, and we can have a larger group of young adults,” she says, “so they can do more social activities, make more connections and gain more friends that they may have never had before.”

Integrative Neighborhoods of Oakland County doesn’t plan to stop with the Farmington Hills community. They’re also in talks with JARC, a Jewish organization that serves people with developmental disabilities, to potentially open an Oak Park community to benefit the area’s Orthodox population.

“That’s a dream of ours,” Terry says. “Our hope is to expand because there’s a huge need and a lot of parents don’t know about this program.”

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Getting Good at Getting Older hosts Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13. Her topic, “Staying Safe from Scammers,” will focus on online security. Registration is required at www.tchiyah.org/913 to receive a Zoom link.

met with Rabbi Geller, shared Kohl’s enthusiasm. After the rabbi’s presentation was “such a hit,” according to Kohl, “we took the rabbi’s suggestion to build this community by planning a series of programs that followed her book and spoke to the challenges that faced us as we aged.” Echeandia, Schindler and Hansell joined them.

The original GG@GO series on Zoom presented book chapters dealing with “Invisibility,” “Isolation,” “Purpose” and “Dependency.” For the final session, Rabbi Geller — still the planners’ “guru” – was brought back at Shavuot to talk about “the harvesting of our lives, the importance of the intergenerational community,” Kohl said. A highlight, she added, was witnessing the “beautiful exchange between the ‘seasoned’ Rabbi Geller and T’chiyah’s young rabbi, Alana Alpert.”

Frankel said members of the coordinating committee “meet periodically to evaluate past efforts and plan future presentations.” Each committee member commits to facilitating a program, usually featuring a knowledgeable speaker. For “Acquired Disabilities” on Oct. 20, she will present her friend Susan Fitzmaurice, a woman who has experienced disability most of her life and has a son, Teddy, with Down syndrome.

Other topics under consideration include: “Grandparenting;” “Technological Aging in Place;” “Senior Activism;” “Preparing for a Better End” and “Gerontology and Geriatrics.” The sessions meet 6:30-8 p.m. monthly, on the third Wednesday. After recapping the previous program, each session continues with a new topic and presenter, followed by a Q&A discussion.

Offered initially only to T’chiyah members, GG@ GO participation no longer has boundaries. Frankel and Schindler recently did outreach for the series, telling the Huntington Woods Monday Lunch Bunch about the challenges, opportunities and benefits of retaining or regaining a life’s purpose.

Schindler, a retired Wayne State University professor, will speak this fall about the series in relation to interdisciplinary aspects of aging in her scholarly presentation to a virtual national conference.

Moving forward, Frankel said, “We solicit input from anyone interested in GG@GO discussions to suggest additional topics of interest, and welcome other presenters with knowledge to share.”

Congregation T’chiyah 22331 Woodward Ferndale, MI 48220 Email: TchiyahJake@gmail.com3 Phone: 248-823-7115