BUFFALO, N.Y. — Cathy Bora has been moving around a lot.
She moved to Florida from Orchard Park, and then moved back after her mother died. She stayed with her sister until two years ago, when she moved to Kenmore.
She hopes she’s staying put for a while.
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Bora lives in an Individualized Residential Alternative, one of the 25 such homes run by The Arc Erie County New York, a nonprofit that supports people with disabilities throughout Western New York. The IRAs serve 177 people, from group homes with around-the-clock medical care to apartments for those who need less oversight. The sites can accommodate from four to 12 people and at least two vehicles are available for daily transportation.
The sites are not nursing homes, but residents have access to nurses, care coordinators, dietitians and physical and occupational therapists. Some of the sites are barrier-free for those with higher medical needs: ranch-style houses are equipped with accessible bathrooms, wider walkways and customized kitchen counters.
For Bora, her home is a godsend.
She spends the most time with her roommates — Hazel Robinson and Mary Gereld — who she considers as sisters. They cook together, go out for ice cream and play endless rounds of bingo. Gereld’s 1,000-piece unicorn jigsaw puzzle is underway on the dining table. Bora’s stereo, previously owned by her mother, plays Beach Boys and Elvis Presley throughout the apartment.
She also bowls in a local league and is hoping to get work at a daycare nearby.
“I’ll stay around here and keep myself busy,” Bora said. “It’s all great.”
The IRAs are a way to move people away from institutional living and into a home community, says Douglas DiGesare, The Arc’s chief executive officer. The turnover rates are low — some have lived there for around 30 years — but they can also be a transitional place for people with disabilities to learn the skills they need to go on to live independently in their own apartment.
“It’s in the continuum of the surface,” DiGesare said. “It sits in the middle there and allows for all these things to happen.”
The beds bring in about $20 million in revenue annually but the amount is exhausted by the end of the year on maintenance and staffing costs, according to The Arc’s Chief Operating Officer Michelle Cordero.
“We do pretty much zero out that budget every year,” Cordero said.
The demand for these residences are high, with approximately 1,364 people on the waiting list.
“Over the years that we’ve been doing this, it’s always been the most expensive program to operate because you’re caring for people 24/7, 365,” DiGesare said.
Cordero, whose sister lives in an IRA, says that what it provides is invaluable.
“You have peace of mind that the person is cared for,” Cordero said. “That they are going to have meals; that somebody is going to be there to help them with their activities of daily living; that they’re not going to be taken advantage of in the community; that they’re going to have socialization so there’s no social isolation.”
The IRA was Robinson’s home for the past 10 years, and Gereld’s for the past 14. Robinson had done an overnight stay as a trial before she officially moved in, and liked it immediately.
“I liked knowing that I wasn’t going to be by myself,” Robinson said.
Allyson Sanders, a woman with cerebral palsy who resides in a barrier-free environment, considers the staff her family. She had lived on her own for a while but had no home aide service, and spent months in a nursing home where she “couldn’t go nowhere.”
Sanders now attends day rehabilitation services, sells art at The Arc’s events and advocates for her fellow residents at The Arc’s staff orientations.
“I’m glad to do it for people who don’t have a voice,” Sanders said.
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