New apartments offer supportive housing for people with disabilities or coming out of foster care
BROWNSVILLE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- New apartments in Brooklyn are offering supportive and affordable housing to people aging out of foster care and individuals with developmental disabilities.
The project is called Vital Brookdale and was created by the New York Foundling, one of the city's oldest nonprofits that provides foster care services, educational opportunities and aid for people with developmental disabilities.
The organization held an open house Friday as some residents moved into their new homes.
"It's so exciting," resident Anthony McQueen said. "I feel like doing cartwheels."
He recently moved into one of the Brownsville building's 36 units.
"My previous living situation, I was in a group home, a low functioning group home, and that wasn't it for me," he said. "I'm a high functioning person. I like doing things for myself. "I am a diabetic. I pop my own meds and take my own blood pressure."
The New York Foundling says each resident is paired with a community habilitation specialist who helps them navigate day to day living.
"The standard of care has been sort of congregate care," New York Foundling Assistant Vice President, Marketing & Communications Elizabeth Wright said. "So this is really unique in that it affords this opportunity for people with developmental disabilities to live on their own."
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