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When it comes to person-centered planning, it's nice when a plan becomes a reality. In the case of supported living, staff are thinking differently to ensure that friends, regardless of gender, can share an apartment. 

 

"We haven't had a fight in one year," Mark Prediger says proudly.

 

Quite a feat since Mark and his friend Zakia Lewis recently celebrated one year of sharing an RCALD supported apartment in Nanuet.

 

What's the secret?
 

"Zakia goes into her room and talks on the phone. I go into my room and play video games. We give each other our own space and everything's cool," Mark says.
 

 

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Julie McManus has had female roommates since coming to YAI in 1978. She enjoys life in YAI’s Bronx River Road supported apartment in Yonkers. So what was Julie's response when Cassandra Reyes, Supervisor of YAI's Westchester Supportive Units, asked Julie about sharing the apartment with a man?
 

"'Absolutely not, no way; I don’t feel comfortable living with a guy,'" Cassandra says, recalling Julie’s reaction. 

 

"What if it's Larry Berlin?" Cassandra asked.
 

Julie's response: "Oh well that's different. Larry's cool."
 

Julie and Larry have known each other for 15 years. Larry recently moved in. The two are a perfect match.
 

"I've never seen a guy like Larry," Julie says. "He's flexible and very happy. He can take a joke, he has a job. He doesn’t give staff a problem."

 

We thought we'd share some of their tips for a successful living arrangement:
 

• Zakia and Mark both lived in RCALD's 3 Alice Drive residence. They knew they would get along fine. "They're happier living here," says Gabi Opazo, Assistant Director of RCALD.

• "We're good friends," Larry says of Julie. (He wasn't sure what to think when Julie said she could see them becoming boyfriend-girlfriend one day.)

• Zakia and Mark both showcased their cooking skills when they hosted their recent one-year apartment anniversary party. She made her specialty — chicken alfredo. He prepared sausage and pepper

• Larry, who has worked at ShopRite for about 20 years, said he had been thinking about living more independently for years now. He couldn't be happier in his new home. “It was a good choice and worth the wait,” he says.

It helps if one roommate is more maternal (and the other doesn't mind).

• "I look after Larry," Julie says. "I don't want anything to happen to him." Larry adds: "I like a little bit of mothering."