Liz is an adult woman with Autism who lives at a Mainstay Supportive Housing home. Mainstay operates homes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Newton, Norwood and Malden, Massachusetts. Recently, Liz’s sister Katy sat down to speak with us about her sister’s experience as a Mainstay resident. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Why Mainstay?
Liz had been living independently for a long time, and it became very clear that wasn’t necessarily the best option for her anymore. We were calling around and we came across the Mainstay website and found Doreen [Cummings – Mainstay’s Director of Marketing and In-Home Services] who was super quick to reply and provide a lot of guidance and address all our concerns.
How was the transition for Liz?
The community here is so welcoming that I’d say Liz felt at home here right away. I think she’s really excited to have somebody cook meals, and it’s a very clean home. Having a clean atmosphere and a supportive atmosphere – with meals provided and oversight – it’s amazing.
As her sibling, how involved are you in Liz’s care?
There comes a time with siblings where you need to step in a little bit more. I always say siblings are your true life partners, they’re the people that are with you at different stages of life. When you have a sibling that has special needs, it can feel like a really big responsibility and also a really big opportunity. It’s just really important to have other people who are part of your community, part of your village, to help care for your sibling.
How did Mainstay help you navigate moving Liz?
There’s so much to manage for anyone with a move, but for someone with different abilities, when it comes to housing and transportation and job changes and all of the benefits, there’s a ton to navigate and it’s completely overwhelming. To have Mainstay — people who have expertise, and who are also able to give quick response time — was essential.
How did scholarship assistance come into play?
Mainstay was really helpful in navigating all the benefits to make this financially possible for us. That includes The RIDE, Social Security, MassHealth and Section 8. We had the first six months of our service fee waived, and that was really important because we were still in the process of trying to get the benefits set up as quickly as possible. Donations to the scholarship fund are really important and helped our family directly.
To learn more about Mainstay Supportive Housing, contact Doreen Cummings directly at Doreen.Cummings@mainstayliving.org.