Creating A Space For Individuals with Disabilities to Thrive | Main Street Ep. 84

The Truman Charities Annual Halloween Party is back! On October 28th from 6 to 10 PM, Truman Charities is hosting their spectacular event to support Main Street, an organization that’s changing the lives of people with disabilities and inspiring change within the community and beyond.

After her son reached adulthood and lost access to many programs offered to people with disabilities, Main Street founder Jillian Copeland was troubled by the lack of opportunities available to him and decided to take action. Main Street was created to provide affordable and accessible housing with a community of support, thus empowering those with disabilities by allowing them to pave their own way to independence.

Main Street’s ADA-compliant apartment complex is one of the first of its kind, featuring their Soulfull Cafe, a fitness center, art gallery, classrooms and more. And the community is not just available to Main Street residents — anyone who wants to be part of the community can become a Main Street member and attend their weekly events or join virtual classes to learn a new skill, explore their artistic side, or just make friends.

Their approach to inclusion and accessibility has made a huge impact on their community, and Main Street’s model is now being adapted around the country. However, there’s so much more the organization is trying to accomplish.

Tune in now to find out how you can support Main Street’s mission!

Be sure to join host Jamie Truman and Jillian Copeland this October 28th at Tommy Joe’s in Bethesda, MD for the Truman Charities Halloween Bash! They’ll be great food and amazing auction items you don’t want to miss. Register for the event at https://www.trumancharities.com/.

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Email: info@trumancharities.com

This episode was post produced by Podcast Boutique https://podcastboutique.com/

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Truman Charities podcast. I'm Jamie Truman, your host. Truman Charities is a 100% volunteer-based organization and we have raised over $1.7 million since inception. We host four fundraisers each year for various different charities and our annual Halloween party is coming up on October 28th, 6 to 10 pm at Tommy Joe's and Bethesda. This year we are benefiting Main Street.

Speaker 1: 0:27

I interviewed the founder of Main Street, gillian Copeland, last year for our podcast and was blown away with what she has been able to accomplish for individuals living with disabilities and how her son, nickel, inspired her to create Main Street. Do you know that when individuals with disabilities hit the age of 21, they reached what is called the cliff, and that is when all opportunities that have been available to them while in school cease. Gillian created a 70-unit apartment complex that is designed with accessibility in mind and also offers affordable housing so people of all abilities can live their best lives. But it doesn't end there. Main Street offers a membership program for not just their tenants but the entire community. We talk about their 22 programs that they offer through their membership. They have cooking classes, art classes, fitness and so much more, and I cannot forget to mention their SoulFool Cafe as well, where you can grab smoothies and delicious foods.

Speaker 1: 1:32

Now let me mention some of our amazing auction items that we will have at our Halloween event. We have Timber Pizza is offering a wood fire pizza truck to come to your home to serve up to 50 people. So it's a 50 person pizza party. A trip to Hard Rock, florida for three days, two nights with dinner credit. We have Boone and Sun Jewelry, which, as you know, I love. That's where my engagement wedding ring and all of my jewelry comes from.

Speaker 1: 2:01

We have a wonderful beach house vacation in Rehoboth, a three-day two-night at the MGM National Harbor with dinner credit, and another three-day two-night at the Hard Rock in Atlantic City with dinner credit as well. For all of your sports fans, we have Commanders and Jofinsuit tickets with open bar and food, and that is just to name a few. We have so many more amazing auction items. Space is limited, so please go onto our website at TrumanCharitiescom to register. If you have any questions, of course, you can always email me at info at TrumanCharitiescom. I really hope you enjoy this episode that I recorded with Jillian Copeland from about a year ago on Main Street as much as I did.

Speaker 2: 2:51

Jillian, how are you? I'm great Amy, how are you?

Speaker 1: 2:54

Good, I know you're so busy, so I'm glad you were able to carve out some time to chat with us today. But I wanted to start out for people that don't know you and they don't know a lot about Main Street. Can you tell us your story and why you and your husband decided to create Main Street?

Speaker 2: 3:10

Yes, thank you, jamie. First, thank you for having me. I'm really excited to be here. I've heard so many of your amazing podcasts with incredible people, so humbled to be a part of the group. So let's see a little bit about myself.

Speaker 2: 3:23

I'm born and raised in Montgomery County and was an educator here at Montgomery County Public Schools for years. My husband and I live in Rockville. We have four sons and our third son, nickel, tends to be the center of our universe. Often At eight months old he started having pretty significant seizures, life-threatening seizures. Since then it's really been a journey to explore and find and sometimes create opportunities for him and other people with disabilities and medical challenges so they can really access community and be a part of community in a very organic, inclusive way. So maybe he was five and six.

Speaker 2: 4:04

You know schooling was a challenge. We created the Deaner School I'm an educator, as I said, by trade and my husband's on board and amazing. So we created the Deaner School in 2007, and actually it's thriving. I think they have 68 kids now. They're located in Rockville, it's doing really neat stuff and Deaner has a very holistic approach to education where everything is integrated and included. So it's not necessarily one-stop shopping, but OT and speech and language and academics and sensory opportunities and social skill building is all sort of integrated within the curriculum, with all of the specialists talking to each other and collaborating together, and I think that's really the beauty and we're really seeing some successful outcomes some kids excelling in all areas of academics but also knowing who they are and building that self-esteem that they need to move forward. So that's been a really beautiful thing. I'm still on the board there, but not involved day-to-day.

Speaker 2: 5:02

And when Nicole left the Deaner School and we were kind of looking for next steps for him, where would he thrive in life? Now he's a teenager and soon he's going to be an adult. What does that look like? And it looked pretty grim. So, jamie, I don't know how familiar you are with this world or your listeners are, but when adults with disabilities reach the age of 21, they reach what's called what people term as the CLIF, and the CLIF is you know all of your entitlements are ceased. So you're schooling any therapies that you have, and it's really more than that, because for our kids who have difficulties with transitions and difficulties with big changes and all of a sudden all of their connections, their anchors, they don't have them anymore. They don't have their friends from school, they don't have their school and they're not a lot of great opportunities available to them and one of them is programming and housing and that's affordable, accessible and inclusive.

Speaker 2: 5:55

And as we were exploring this space, this adult disability space, we realized just how challenging and terrible the options were for adults with disabilities and we just created a path forward to become advocates, to co-lead this movement with other people that are challenged with disabilities and to create opportunities and possibilities that people deserve right, that this underserved, woefully underserved community deserves Also. You know, one of the things we are really working on is changing the culture of what disability looks like to others and educating people and reminding people, by providing organic opportunities to meet and connect with all kinds of people, that everyone really should have a seat at the table, because everyone has the value to bring People with disabilities and often marginalized or underserved communities. They don't want to be treated as charity or as other. They don't want to feel less than that. They want to be a part of the mix and that's really what we're doing at Main Street. So we spent a couple years and we now have this just thriving community. Some live in our apartment building at Main Street. We have an apartment building in Rockville Town Center, 70 units. It's a 70-unit apartment building with 75% of the units being affordable, which is incredible. About half of the units are occupied by people who self-identify as having a disability and so probably about, you know, 150 to 200 people live in the building and about half probably have a disability.

Speaker 2: 7:28

And we offer on our ground floor a membership to Main Street.

Speaker 2: 7:31

We have these amazing spaces, as you saw when we did our tour. We have Poppy Boys Kitchen and a Maddie's Peace Room and a conference room and places to play and learn and connect and stimulate mind and body and places, you know, where we create opportunities to belong. And we have residents that join us for our programs 22 programs a week that we offer through Main Street. But we also have lots of people who do not live at Main Street who join our membership and join us for these classes and activities and programs and opportunities and they build relationships, they feel good about who they are. Our annual survey just came back. We have a 33% survey rate of members completing the survey and they're telling us what they want to do and what they want to learn and where they want to be in the timing that works for them. And I think for the first time maybe ever for a lot of these people, not only are they being hurt, but they have a place to belong and a place to stand tall and feel pride. So it's pretty incredible.

Speaker 1: 8:31

It is very incredible. I was taken back when I came in Main Street. You keep touching on when you're speaking about Main Street inclusive and redefining inclusivity and inclusion. Can you, you know, elaborate a little bit on that? What do you mean by that?

Speaker 2: 8:48

Sure, I would love to. I mean, I think the general sort of overall is inclusion really is providing opportunity for everyone. It's providing is knowing how to make your spaces, your programs, your community accessible so anybody who wants to participate and be a part 10. Affordability, I think, is just a piece of that, because if things aren't affordable, you're just excluding a part of the population that can come right. So I see that as inclusivity as part of this. I see you know inclusion means a lot of different things to a lot of people. Right, it depends what your lens is and what your context is, your background, your template, where you come from, how you're treated by others. So it can mean a lot of different things.

Speaker 2: 9:31

For us, I think inclusion is really bringing opportunity for people so that they can create their own possibilities from that. But if they're not provided opportunity, really hard to feel a part of something bigger than yourself, sometimes hard to find purpose and passion and meaning. And so for us, that's what we're doing. We're saying to folks hey, we have this open, beautiful, bright space. We treat everyone with respect and dignity. We provide these classes and opportunities for you to join and learn about who you are and how to connect with the bigger world and come. You know if it works for you, come join us. It's a non-judgmental space, it's kind.

Speaker 2: 10:11

I guess at the end of the day that's really true inclusion. And I say to people sometimes we don't typically word the use segregation. We don't use the word segregation anymore. I'm sure there are people that might disagree with me or feel that they are still living in more of a segregated world. I am privileged to not feel that, but I hope that one day we don't have to use the word inclusion anymore. I hope that we are just naturally kind and providing spaces where people feel included and we don't have to keep saying let's be inclusive, let's be inclusive. We just actually act and model what inclusion and kindness looks like.

Speaker 1: 10:48

I was reading one of the stories from your residence and it was Katie's story and she was talking about how she's a resident there and she feels so included there and she actually has started one of the programs which is let's Get Crafty. So can you talk a little bit about some of the programs that you think the residents really enjoy?

Speaker 2: 11:07

Yes, I'm a little emotional because Katie is just this really spectacular young woman and she's really struggling right now with health. She's been in the hospital since September 20th and we're all worried about her, but she's going to do okay and we're providing her with love and support from our community and I hope that helps her. So, katie and others, I think when they come to Main Street they feel this sense of not just belonging but empowerment and they are because they're being heard. They come to the table to say hey, you know, I'm crafty, I'm artsy, I love to cook. How can I lead others, how can I share my talents with others? And that's just this natural empowerment, right of all of community. When we have something to give to others skills or talents or even just kindness really it lifts people and that, I believe, is what we're doing at Main Street. We have two adults with disabilities who run our fitness classes. One of them is in a wheelchair and he still runs a kick ass fitness class. Right, we have three adults who are now working at Main Street as a front desk concierge. One of them happens to be my son. He works part-time on Thursdays and Fridays and providing a space where he's a leader, where he is purposeful, where he matters.

Speaker 2: 12:44

I think this is actually not just a problem with the disability community. I think before COVID, this was a problem with many people in our community and I think it's. We all need purpose, right. We all need at some level to be needed, and I think what's happened with this population, with our population, definitely with disabilities, is, as they're growing up, parents like me, we tend to focus on still doing it, by the way. We tend to focus on our concerns and worries and our kids deficits and we celebrate the victories even if they're little wins. We do that, many of us do that, but I think because we're always looking at this child with concerns and the focus, like I said even in the beginning when I introduced myself, our family is very centered around Nickel and his needs and I think it forces Nickel to always focus on Nickel and his needs and not look outwards and not understand the greater responsibility that he can have to the collective community and how can. He's needed and he could be a part of that, and so some of what we do at Main Street is employing people with disabilities. We do have this employment track, this an internship. We also we want people with disabilities to be heard, so we do member surveys and evaluations and focus groups and we ask people to come to the table and share how they feel and how they want to live and how we can support them. And we guide our programs based on member preferences and interests. But I think just bringing people to the table is really what I would say is so helpful.

Speaker 2: 14:18

I talked to a lot of my friends in the business world and I often say to them do you have a special opportunity in your space to bring in somebody with a disability?

Speaker 2: 14:28

And it has to be natural, it has to fit their skill set right.

Speaker 2: 14:31

I mean, we don't want to bring people in for charity, we want to bring them in because they can add something to our workforce right. And what we find is and again, I'm not in the employment space, but we do have this lane and we work with Kennedy, kroger and Seek and Jessa and all these amazing organizations that help people to gain successful employment and to continue to maintain their employment and what we find is when people bring in adults with disabilities who work in their space, overall they have a higher productivity level of employees and people are happier. And I think if you join us for a community event at Main Street, a social event, an educational event baking with Sharon, our boxing with Dante, a Tai Chi Chi, gong class, yoga with Helene or Daniel if you join us for this, you feel this sense of community and perhaps non-judgment, and it's uplifting, and so there really is so much value in being a part of a community like this and providing opportunities for all people to come sit at the table right.

Speaker 1: 15:43

I did love. When I came in, I met your son. He was working at my desk and I was so in love with him, thank you. And then you took me to your cafe, the Soulful Cafe, and you have people that are working with and without disabilities there. And first off, let me tell you I had a smoothie there and it was fantastic. So I do want you to talk a little bit about that, because people are in the area and they want to pop in and grab themselves something quick to eat. This is a fantastic cafe to stop into.

Speaker 2: 16:18

Yes, so glad you brought that up, thank you. I spent a lot of the day in the cafe yesterday and it was actually pretty vibrant and bustling so I was excited. Our cafe is really it's Soulful Cafe, so we want you to come in and fill your cup and fill your tummy and fill your soul and I think what you're gonna find at Soulful Cafe is you will see a very diverse population. Our staff is very diverse, neurodiverse, physically diverse, and they're welcoming and they're gonna. It's kind of like Cheers right, the TV show. You come in a few times and they're gonna say hey, jamie, do you want that smoothie? Again today.

Speaker 2: 16:56

You know it's a very community oriented feel in our coffee shop and we have amazing smoothies and acai bowls and hot and cold sandwiches and lots of organic and locally sourced opportunities for your food sources, which we think is really important. So organic and comfy and cozy. We now have soups and again, providing people at the seat, at the table, to work in a space where they are around community and they're purposeful and they're serving others. It's really been an incredible experience and I highly highly suggest recommend anyone who needs wants to pop in. You can order online at the soulfulcafecom Our location. We are at 50 Munro Place, so we are right across from the district courthouse and it's light and bright and super fun in there. So thank you for the soulful accolades and hopefully other people will come.

Speaker 1: 17:52

I love how you mentioned it's light and bright, because I think that when I walked in to Main Street, that's how I felt it was just very welcoming and very bright and colorful and just lovely. And I wanna talk a little bit about when I first walked in and I met your wonderful son and I looked over and I saw this, just like it was taken back. You were talking to me and I said I'm sorry, jillian, I wasn't paying attention. What do you always saying? Cause I was just staring at this artwork and so you have something that is called what is it? Artists on Main Street, right? Can you tell me a little?

Speaker 2: 18:25

bit about it. So, of course and I do remember that, I do remember you, your eye moving towards the beautiful art we have a program artist on Main Street. It's our artist in residence and every three months our art in our lobby rotates and we invite people in our community, of all races and ages and stages and backgrounds and abilities, to be a part of our art wall. So we've had Dwayne Martin, who was written up in the Washington Post. He's a postal worker from Southeast DC. His side hustle is art. He was up on our walls for three months and he did a workshop for our members so that we could learn how he did his art, and some of our member artists followed along and created their own beautiful masterpieces themselves.

Speaker 2: 19:12

So when you were visiting Main Street, we had our member art show so members could submit their art to be and it was either accepted or not and our director of membership experience, stacy, chose all the art that was on our walls. Some were actually just QR codes of poems or videos. Also, because all art is in gall, mediums are included, and so I think when you were there, you saw a lot of our members art which is bright and beautiful, and yesterday actually we rotated again. So our members now have their artwork back and we are highlighting Madison Prince. He is an adult with autism and his mom, graciously, is sharing his art with our community. They also will be doing an art show.

Speaker 2: 19:58

I'm not sure when, what the date is, but it will be on our website and so Madison's art is colorful, it's actually extraordinary, and his art will be up through the end of January and then we'll rotate through to another artist too. So if anybody's a local artist and they'd like to show us their work and highlight their work up at Main Street, we would absolutely love that. We are also thinking about doing another art show at Soulful every three months and rotating people's artwork through the Soulful Cafe as well.

Speaker 1: 20:28

Oh, I think that would be wonderful. That's a great idea. I love that. I wanted to talk a little bit. I saw on your website and all these residents and they talk about their experience, obviously at Main Street, and I wanted you to explain or elaborate a little bit more on this. Joanna, she was talking about the apartment layout and she said that it's designed with accessibility in mind, especially the kitchen. She said Can you explain a little bit what she means by that?

Speaker 2: 20:55

Yes, oh, that's so great. I'm glad that she shared that with you. So you know, the ADA is one thing. Apartments have to be, you know, ada compliant. But it doesn't.

Speaker 2: 21:05

When you talk to people with disabilities cross-disability, whether they're hearing or vision impaired, mobility challenges, someone has autism they all need different things. They need different kinds of lighting. Sound is important. We have in our apartments. We have movable islands. So if you want to move your island out of the way, if you need a little more space for your body to move, or you're in a wheelchair, you can either take out the island altogether or you can move it to a different part of the apartment because it's on wheels. So, just, you know little things, right? We have in our ovens if it doesn't see movement within two hours, the oven turns off. So there's a safety mechanism. We also have something called iGuard, which is, if there is a fire that starts on your oven, a chemical is released from that and it will put out the fire. So there's some little things we also have, I mean just ceiling fans in each room.

Speaker 2: 21:57

That was something that when I interviewed almost 80 people families and adults with disabilities you know, where do you want to live, how do you want to spend your time? What do you need to accommodate your needs? That was one thing. A lot of ours I don't know if you noticed in all of our amenity spaces, our community center, every door is glass and it's a push button, so everything opens so automatically, including our front doors, and you know that's important for a lot of people. It's very hard for them, even pushing a handicap button with a door opening. One door opens, it's not enough for them to go through. So another thing that I think was really interesting I interviewed a young man.

Speaker 2: 22:37

He was 37 years old and he's blind and he's so brilliant and talented and he met with me. This was prior to the building opening, when we were I don't even know. I think we were in design, the design mode, and I asked him what do you need? Because I can't see. But when I get on an elevator and there are other people in an elevator and I push six because that's where I'm going, when the elevator stops, I don't know what floor we're on. So an audible was necessary. So we have an audible. It says you're on floor two, you're on floor three. I mean just things that we didn't, that I think able bodied people we don't know, you know kind of the necessary things for others. We presume to know sometimes and we think, well, we're ADA compliant, but it really takes much more than that to actually have universal design and accessibility for all. There are still things we're working on. There are still things people bring to us and say this is difficult and some things we can't do, but a lot of things we can and we have.

Speaker 1: 23:35

Wow, that's a lot of things that I would never know about. So I'm just glad that you explained what exactly Jim Anna was talking about, because I read it and I thought I would love to know a little bit more detail about your actual inside the apartments. That's fantastic. Now, if somebody is listening and they're saying I would love to be a part of Main Street, now either I would like to be a resident there or I would like to just be part of the community and I like to have a membership there, how would they go about that?

Speaker 2: 24:05

Our apartments are filled and there is a staggering need for affordability across the globe. Actually, I was going to say it's a national housing crisis, but it's really a global housing crisis, and when you add in the narrative, or the mix of disability and affordability, that intersection is just really a huge challenge. And so when we built the 70 unit apartment building, we opened our call lines in March of 2020 for people to call, and it was first come, first served. We had 11,000 calls the first day. Right, you can see this diary. So Main Street is filled and the wait list is not moving. At least at this point, it is filled. So there aren't opportunities to live at Main Street. However, there are opportunities to live nearby and there are opportunities to be a part of our community.

Speaker 2: 24:54

So most of our members come to Main Street for our 22 weekly programs. They come for Qigong, they come for baking, they come for educational series. We had an entrepreneurial educational series. We have a culture series, a travel series. I mean we really we have something for everyone, and what we want the world to know is we want you to join us as a member of Main Street. We want you to come to our space.

Speaker 2: 25:19

All of our programs are also hybrid, or not all of them, but many of them. So we have our rooms are all zoomed. We have members in nine different states, so if you don't want to leave your house, you can still zoom with us, but if you do want to come in and zoom or do our boot camp or our muscle on main or you know our sunrise, you can come physically in person also. So we have this sort of hybrid membership. If you're just like this is the greatest thing and I love Main Street and I wish the world was more inclusive, I don't really want to be a member. You can be a donor, you can be a volunteer, and many of them joined our membership from there or, at a minimum, they're coming back to volunteer next year because they loved this feeling, because and this is so much bigger than Main Street but there's so much toxicity in the world you know, suicide has become a default for our younger people.

Speaker 2: 26:09

People are Disconnected, people are challenged and struggling and we need light, we need positivity and when you talked about walking into the building and feeling the light People in affordable living they don't have that in most affordable buildings, right? We had two designers, lauren sacks and Elise winnows and they were so unbelievably amazing. Both did this work with their teams pro bono, and it's my husband's passion and mission. He's he's a developer and he and his brother. It's really important for them, especially in the affordable housing world, to make people feel dignified and safe in their home. That's a huge. A huge determinant of health is safety and how we feel in our homes and we want people to walk in and feel light and bright and dignified. And this is a population, as I said, that's other and less than in so many other places and siloed and not a part of the bigger community. Well, that's what Main Street is going to offer them, but it's also offering that to so many other people.

Speaker 2: 27:13

My mom's coming tomorrow night with a bunch of her friends. They're they're in their 70s and 80s. They're coming to do our spices right class because we're mixing spices. We have an expert in there we're gonna learn all about. You know how to cook with various spices and herbs and blends and it's amazing right.

Speaker 2: 27:28

We have a gratitude Breakfast next week. Anyone who wants to feel happy and big-hearted, come and join our gratitude breakfast. You will walk away feeling the virtues within the virtues with others. So we have so many opportunities. So if you ask me the question, you know how do how can people access Main Street? Living there's a little tough right in a challenge, but joining our membership being a part of our community, I promise you will leave, you will love it and want to keep coming back and leave with a smile. So, and you can find everything on our website, main Street connect org. Our membership opportunities are there, our programming Opportunities are there, our calendar of events are there. So you can see what we offer, these 20 to 22 programs a week, and I guarantee you there's something for you, for everyone.

Speaker 1: 28:18

Now, where do you see Main Street and safe five ten years.

Speaker 2: 28:23

Yeah, I love that question. I love the visual of that. I see Main Street, rockville, thriving. I see us possibly being in other spaces in Rockville, in DC, in Virginia, may be offering inclusive programming in other community centers. That's. We're in, you know, discussion with some other groups that are hoping to Program like Main Street and provide opportunities for everyone to belong.

Speaker 2: 28:49

I we are starting to consult with folks around the country who are trying to build their version of Main Street and it's not easy. It's not an easy task but we are working with others. We're working with a DC group, a Wisconsin group, people in Los Angeles, people around the country. We have we do have a webinar of how to do this. We also have a video that will be out that can help people. It's, I think, a two-hour video that kind of takes you from soup to nuts. You know how to, how to get this thing built. So I see us. I see us Working with other groups like the Kelsey out of the Bay Area. They have coined the term disability forward. I see us moving disability forward and it's not really about Main Street, it's about a movement and that's what I see in the next five years is making some traction in this movement to provide Equality, equity and kindness for all of those that are other, especially our disability community.

Speaker 1: 29:42

You know, when I, we have a mutual friend and that's how we met each other and within a few minutes I was like I looked over and I was like Billy, and she is not a talker, she is a door, like sure force. So when you have Mind, it's happening. So I definitely can see this being in different states and you guys really taking this to the next level. And I have to say for the people listening, we're talking about Main Street, but you really just have to see it. I mean, it is Remarkable what you were able to do. And when I walked in I thought I said it's like a four-seasons.

Speaker 1: 30:21

It's. It really is gorgeous and I'm not, you know, exaggerating on any point. Like you walk in and it is light and bright and I walked into the area where you guys have, you know, kitchen and people eat and you have all of your Different cooking classes and all of that and you walk around and it's just so inviting. And you walk outside and it's like a spa, it's just gorgeous.

Speaker 2: 30:49

We do have a spa day.

Speaker 1: 30:50

That's one of our programs, thank you literally everything, and before I let you go, is there anything that we haven't covered that you would want people to know?

Speaker 2: 31:02

Yes, thank you. I was just thinking. You know what I love the love that you've shared about Main Street, thank you, and it is so beautiful and inviting. I love working there. I love being there. I actually redid my kitchen to look like the Poppy Boys kitchen at Main Street, which is named after my dad, which is funny because you never really stepped foot in a kitchen, right, he didn't even know where the pots and pans are, but yet our kitchen's named after him. But it's a place of love and kindness and that is why it's named after him and it has a great big TV. So my Stevie, my dad, loved TV, so works really well. And actually we're starting off crab cakes and football Sundays coming up, so that should be really fun too. So if you're, a fan, come join us.

Speaker 2: 31:41

The one thing that I didn't say that I want to stress, that I think is really important, is Is how we're unique, and we are unique because Main Street isn't a big, large group home. It isn't. We have a mantra Bring your own independence which one of our members, john Borgaski, coined for us and has been a real, a great asset for us. He's a parent of an adult with disability and he's been really helpful with us building Main Street. And Bring your own independence means, whether you live at Main Street or you join us for our programming, you bring your supports with you. If you need supports, if you have a direct service provider or mother, sister, friend that you know has to help you because you have mobility challenges, or maybe help you regulate if you are, you know, having some emotional dysregulation, you bring that person with you and you bring your independence. And I think what how that's different is if you're in this world, most other places provide all of these supports for you. If you move into a house, especially a group home, the staff comes with it. At Main Street we say to you you know, you do you, you have your own fob, you do you and you bring whatever it is that you need, we're not going to supply that for you. And it has allowed people to rise to this level of independence that even the parents, many of the parents, are shocked about. One parent in particular Well too actually told me that they receive funding from the state and they have a direct service provider that comes in. Who's it? Helps their child, you know, achieve independence and helps with, you know, personal supports or community-based learning or things like that. They don't want their supports anymore. They don't need them. They come down to Main Street. They have enough of our staff. We are a scaffolding of support, not a one-to-one, but they come down and they access our programming. They don't need somebody hovering and lingering, they're doing it all by themselves and that's a big deal.

Speaker 2: 33:35

And I think when we decided to go with this mantra and we really understood what that meant and it became Philosophical for us, we didn't realize what that was going to bring for people. But that's what it's bringing and it's allowing people to stand tall and take pride in their own abilities and Probably feel really proud of their own independence and there's and it's liberating. I mean we all need to be independent, right? We all want to be independent, regardless of our ability or how disabled we are. 100% of people with disabilities. When you interview them and ask them if they want to live independently, 100% will tell you yes. So I think they're feeling it here, and we have studies from the University of Maryland and our own feedback and surveys and that Main Street is statistically significantly impacting the quality of life for people, and some of that is because they're finally treated like adults and they're provided a community of support wrap-around system. That feels really good and allows them to rise, and so their life is improving because of it.

Speaker 1: 34:34

Now how does that make you feel when you hear back About the statistics on the industry?

Speaker 2: 34:39

Am I allowed to cuss in the podcast? Sure, okay, I would say fucking awesome. That is how I feel. That's my favorite word, by the way, and I've done pretty good on this podcast, I will say. But I feel fucking awesome and, by the way, you know, this is touching me really personally.

Speaker 2: 34:58

Right, because my son is living there and he probably stays at Main Street five nights a week and Seeing the level of independence not perfect, there are bumps and sometimes even just the last couple weeks We've had some real challenges.

Speaker 2: 35:13

But watching him, even my second son I have four sons, as I said, my second son drove him back to Main Street a couple months ago. He wanted to sleep there and he came home and he got home he said mom, I cried the whole way home. I watched nickel put on his mask hey, you know he has to carry rescue meds with him because he's a seizure to strap his family pack on with his rescue meds. Grab his backpack with his computer, walk into Main Street, say hi to people, go in the elevator and he said I left and I burst into tears. And he said I'm leaving to go back home. He lives in New York and it's the first time I've really ever left him, I don't have to worry, and that's how I feel and we've been able, as parents, to or I guess gonna speak for myself I've been able to kind of let go of the control and it's a really hard thing for me, but I think a lot of parents with kids with multiple challenges, so I feel fucking awesome, jamie.

Speaker 1: 36:07

You're getting me all teary-eyed, sorry, sorry me too, but it's really true.

Speaker 2: 36:11

It's really true. None of this is I'm a hundred percent. You know. It's my truth anyway, I guess, and it feels really good.

Speaker 1: 36:20

Well, thank you so much For coming on and you're just. You got me. You got me at the end.

Speaker 2: 36:27

Thank you, jamie. I really I just I so appreciate your time and your energy and you know all the amazing things that you and your husband and your board and your community do to enrich the lives of so many that are other, and now including disability in that narrative. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 36:45

Thank you, oh my gosh, of course. Thank you, yo, all right. Well, thank you so much for being a guest on our show and thank you to all the listeners for tuning into another episode. Until next time, everyone. If you liked this episode, please make sure to rate and review our podcast. That is how more people learn about the Truman Charities podcast and our organization and to make sure you don't miss any of our future episodes, subscribe, subscribe, subscribe if you'd like to follow Truman Charities. You can follow us on Facebook at Truman Charities, instagram at Jamie underscore Truman Charities and check out our website, truemit charitiescom.