MICHAEL SIEFF
Having been in their new home for two months now, the time is opportune to offer an update on their integration.
“I sometimes think we underestimate our intellectually disabled residents,” Marcelle Ziperstein, one of two occupational therapists in our Protected Employment programme, told me. “The 10 residents who moved across have integrated brilliantly.”
Two of them board the Chev bus each morning to make the trip to our Kadimah division in Norwood where they spend the day involved in a variety of creative and productive activities.
Four are very busy at our Junction workshop where they join a team of over 80 workers. The Junction is quite literally a stone’s throw from Beit Netanya – they walk across every morning after breakfast.
The remaining four have each found their niche in our World of Work programme: two in the laundry at Our Parents Home where they are motivated and excited about learning new skills; one as a porter at Sandringham Gardens where his natural ability to socialise makes him a favourite with the elderly residents, and one – a lover of nature and gardening – with the gardening maintenance team.
“Because of the wide variety of opportunities on this campus, we are able to meet the individual needs of each resident and match their interests and skills with complementary work,” said Mika Messer, the other OT.
But it’s not all work and no play. The residents are enjoying their new home too – the spaciousness of Beit Netanya with its seven large double bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, and the recreation areas including a dining and lounge/TV area as well as an outdoor braai feature and adjoining games room with pool table.
We have worked closely with their relatives to ensure that the “family feel” is retained in their new home, which is mostly independent (but supervised).
I am delighted that we no longer have the worry of these vulnerable residents being distant and isolated. They are home now, and thank G-d they are happy and productive.
May our partnership continue to thrive!
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