Chartiers Center moves forward to connect people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with their communities and neighbors

Chartiers Center has created a new program that takes adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities out into the community, enabling them to connect in meaningful ways with neighbors, organizations and businesses.

Its Forward Together Project will include social, vocational and recreational activities and is looking for participants and partners in both Allegheny and Washington counties to join the effort.

After months of planning, it launched this month, complementing the nonprofit’s IDD programs at its Dormont location. CEO Susan Coyle said this program is a unique approach to offer participants true community integration. 

A news release announcing the Forward Together Project stated that research demonstrates that community integration programs like this help equip people with essential everyday skills and foster independence. This one does so by keeping people with IDD engaged and providing opportunities for them to learn, work and play alongside everyone else.

“Our vision for The Forward Together Project is to bridge the gap between people with IDD and their neighbors, ultimately fostering a sense of belonging,” Coyle said in the release. “Engaging in community activities doesn’t always come naturally, but with the help of this program, so many individuals will now have a better opportunity to take on independent roles within their communities and pursue activities they feel passionate about.”

In its first activity, two men – a 40- and a 60-year-old – decided they wanted to see a movie. The program let them discuss what to see, a typical activity for people. They disagreed at first on a film but come to an agreement, Coyle said. Then Chartiers Center staff members made appropriate plans, including taking them to a Burger King dinner afterward.

“Simple things and skills we take for granted,” she pointed out. “How do you make that choice? They decided to go to two different movies at different times. They decided to take turns seeing both movies.”

A bonus for one of the men: He tasted Raisinets for the first time.

The private nonprofit corporation, funded by state, county, third-party insurances and private funds, offers behavioral health, substance abuse outpatient treatment, homeless services and integrated care services, too, according to its website. It offers and completes psychiatric assessments, social rehabilitation, crisis intervention, partial hospitalization, homeless street outreach and a range of residential programs for those with a behavioral health diagnosis, according to its website. Based in Bridgeville, it became operational in September 1970.

This new initiative came about after Chartiers Center started offering services in Washington County for the first time in June 2023. It opened a Behavioral Health Outpatient Center at 90 W. Chestnut St., in Washington. That location did not offer IDD services.

“Once we were in Washington, we got to know the community and studied the community and realized that on the Burgettstown side of the county, there’s not a lot of day [IDD] programs,” Coyle said. “We approached the county about starting something. They were thrilled and asked us to do it throughout the county. Both counties are very excited about the program.”

The CEO said her organization and staff members believe they have launched a great project. They looked to another no-site program, Milestone  based in Wilkinsburg, and part of Partners for Quality  in Kennedy for assistance and counsel as it completed the planning required for it.

“We have a great relationship with Milestone,” she said, adding that Allegheny County agencies like hers are very supportive of each other. “They were very generous talking to us …. They gave us here is how we do it, here is what to look out for. They are a great model.”

No fee is charged for the service itself. Coyle said participants have waiver state funds and insurance that will cover that. The only fee individuals might pay is if they go to the movies or bowling, for example.

Chartiers Center has long operated its two IDD day programs, located in Dormont since 2015, that run from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. five days a week. Fifty people at any given time can come to the Achievement Program and Choice Center, Coyle said.

The Achievement Program, formerly known as the Employment Training Center, supports all individuals’ efforts to achieve independence, according to the nonprofit’s website. The focus is on daily living, health and safety, community integration, and other interests. Popular activities include exercise groups; crafts; games such as Family Feud, UNO and Pictionary games; Steeler Toss; bowling; and access to computer games and puzzles.

Choice Center participants select activities depending on their interests. Favorite activities include cooking, socialization, body movement and stretching, especially dancing along to Wii games, as well as playing cards, doing crafts and accessing computer games.  

Coyle said both those programs have been successful, and one of the best measures has been the relationships and friendships formed from them. 

But this new project for those 18 or 21 and older takes it a step further with community integration, something Chartiers Center participants can be capable of and want.

Coyle said Chartiers Center staff noticed that its site-based IDD programs didn’t seem to be a match or fit for some of its clients, particularly younger ones. “They seemed to want to be out in the community more,” she said. “Our program folks get a sense that their parents also want them to be out in the community more.”

This new initiative will continue to prioritize individual attention, just like the other services Chartiers Center has offered for decades. Participants can expect to engage in smaller group activities that focus on their interests directly within the community, according to the news release, which can include assistance in securing a new job, making new friends, volunteering, cooking a meal, learning to do laundry or navigating public transit. 

This is part of Chartiers Center’s philosophy, Coyle said, which includes bringing forth the dignity and respect people with IDD deserve. “They have the ability to be a member of the community, if they choose to be integrated, however they want to be part of the community. They have that right,” she said. “We want to help them live their best life.” 

Alisha Vereen, Forward Together Project’s community and inclusion participation coordinator, and Jeff DeSantis, Chartiers Center’s assistant chief clinical officer, know many people can take advantage of the new service, and partner organizations and individuals can provide opportunities for it to be successful.

Vereen said she and her staff will pair participants with individuals with whom they have much in common. The difference for them compared to scheduled activities at one of Chartiers site-based programs is they will be encouraged to talk among themselves and decide what they can and want to do. Staff will drive them where they want to go.

For example, the two men who traveled to the movies and a restaurant this month have decided on additional activities to experience together. After seeing that second movie they want a Carnegie Science Center visit and a Subway meal. Vereen has another individual who has requested learning how the Benedum Center operates from backstage, something that she is looking forward to experiencing, too.

Vereen has been reaching out to churches, businesses and individuals to alert them to the new project, seeking partners. Some of the suggested activities include cooking classes, delivering meals, and volunteering at an animal shelter and other venues and agencies Reduced entrance or ticket fees at entertainment venues would help the new initiative, too. In the news release, she said the project’s real success will be measured by the community’s involvement.

“This is the most consumer empowering program we have,” DeSantis said. “This is just a piece of puzzle for their growth, the next step for a lot of people.  We want to get to these folks and have them call Alisha about what their participation might look like.”

So often people with IDD get a schedule and don’t have a say about their day, she said. This is different.

“I am very excited about giving people the opportunity to do things they haven’t done before,” Vereen said. “It’s all about them. It puts connections together. It makes me excited to see them do that.”

Before joining Chartiers Center in 2019, Vereen worked for Achieva for 14 years in a variety of positions. She’s witnessed IDD programs she has worked for or knows well move on from residential settings to participants being able to work and earn paychecks. The move toward self-scheduling is another step forward, she believes.

DeSantis agrees. “The world keeps evolving, and there is more and more opportunity for people with IDD and autism to be included,” he said. “They are not off to the side. They can be as integrated into the community as the rest of us are. Alisha’s program will teach them the skills and the support they need to obtain those skills, and that is exciting.”

Coyle’s goal is to have programming for the project five days a week. “We can be as flexible as we need to be to meet the needs of people,” she said. “We can do whole day excursions or half days. People can come five days a week. “[To start], we expect most will want a few days, especially in the wintertime.”

The goal for now is to spread the word. Vereen has been reaching out and meeting with support coordinators at agencies throughout both counties to encourage more participants to join in the project and its activities.

All the work is worthwhile, DeSantis said, because “We believe this program can be very important. [There’s] a lot of people out there who can use a program like this.”

For more information on how to participate and to get involved with the Forward Together Project, individuals and local organizations are encouraged to contact Alisha Vereen at avereen@chartierscenter.org or 412-556-7140.