BY JILL NAGY
When four disabled adults moved from the
O.D. Heck Center in Schenectady to a four bedroom
house on Crooked Street in Galway,
it represented the culmination of more than
two years of planning on the part of AIM
Services Inc., and Saratoga Construction.
The house was custom designed and built
for the four individuals who are now living
there, according to Chris Lyons, senior director
and counsel for AIM Services, a nonprofit
organization in Saratoga Springs serving
people with disabilities and their families.
The cost was “north of $400,000,” in addition
to the cost of the land, said Lyons.
Cecil Provost, president of Saratoga Construction,
worked closely with AIM personnel
on the design and construction of the home.
“It was built for specific people, custom
built to support those people,” Lyons said. All
of them have “serious cognitive challenges”
and the house had to provide for their safety
while allowing them the maximum possible
independence.
In fact, Provost was involved even before
the decision to build the house. His company
previously built a house in Saratoga Springs
for AIM. He told them about the Galway
property, 5.12 acres that Lyons describes as
“a bucolic, pastoral setting,” facing a wooded
area, but with neighbors on the street.
“They love taking long walks on the rolling
streets of Galway,” Lyons said of the residents.
About the time that AIM was buying the
property, in early 2013, the regional office
of the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) approached
the agency with a request that they
provide services for the four individuals soon
to be displaced from the O.D. Heck campus
and needing appropriate, less restrictive,
housing and programming.
There followed a process of getting to
know the potential residents, evaluating
their needs, and designing a new home for
them. The result is a four-bedroom house
with living room, dining room, kitchen, and
a den with a porch that also serves as a quiet
area. There is an office downstairs for staff
with its own entrance. At the same time,
the 12 staff members who would work at the
house got to know the people who would live
there and received specialized training to
meet their needs.
In addition to walking the rolling streets,
the residents go to the YMCA, stop for coffee
at Stewart’s, and have day programs at a
space owned by Stewart’s and set aside for
their use. There is a car at their service for
activities away from home.
While everything was designed and built
for the four who now live there, the space can
be adapted to the needs of others. However,
Lyons said, “we expect them to stay there for
the long foreseeable future.”
AIM was established in 1979. They provide
housing and programming for over 110
individuals in 17 agency-owned residences
in Saratoga and Warren counties. They also
own or lease four “supportive apartments”
for individuals able to live on their own with
assistance from time to time.
“We are constantly growing with the
county,” Lyons said, “More people are moving
here who need our services.”
One of their programs provides an alternative
to nursing home care, allowing people
to remain in their homes. Another growing
service is clinically supported respite care
for caregivers.
“Respite is big right now in the county,”
he noted. In fact, AIM plans a program for
community leaders to tell them about their
services, including what they are calling
enhanced respite. That is scheduled for 8
a.m. April 22 at the AIM, Inc. administrative
offices at 4227 Route 50, Saratoga Springs.
AIM can be reached by telephone at 587-
3208.