At its last meeting on May 3, Community Board 10 approved a new home to be built, which will house six people who have developmental disabilities, at 118-05 North Conduit Avenue in South Ozone Park. Forum Newsgroup Photo by Luis Gronda.
At its public meeting last week, Community Board 10 (CB 10) approved a new community resident home, which will provide housing for people with developmental disabilities.
The home will be at 118-05 North Conduit Avenue in South Ozone Park and will house six men that have a developmental disability.
Ray De Natale and Grainne Vis, both from Independent Residences Inc. a Woodhaven-based company that provides residential services, like housing, for people with disabilities and that is establishing this home, attended the CB 10 meeting on May 3. De Natale is the executive director of the company and Vis is the director of residential services.
According to Vis, they run the home “family style” which means that they will do their clothes and grocery shopping in the surrounding community. She added that four out of the six men that would be living in the home originally came from the South Ozone Park, Ozone Park and Richmond Hill areas and went to school in those neighborhoods as well.
“Their families want them back in the communities that they started in, and that’s what we try to do,” said Vis, who is the director of residential services at the company and is in charge of the day-to-day operation of the home.
The six men are all in their early 20s and have a variety of disabilities including autism and some physical disabilities.
Vis said that there will be staff available at the home for them 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Two people would be available at night and a minimum of three will be there during the day time.
According to Vis, the individuals that have the potential to find work will be trained by job coaches and could find either paid work or volunteer work.
After she finished explaining the home and how it would operate, CB 10 board members got their chance to ask questions to both Vis and De Natale regarding the home.
CB 10 board member Donna Gilmartin was concerned about parking on that block during the weekends. She said that families that would be visiting them at the house have to make sure they park legally and keep it clear of congestion because people have a tendency to double park on that block because of its isolated location.
“We have to be careful and instruct them early on to any of the families that they must park legally otherwise that will become a problem,” Gilmartin said.
Vis responded that they will be aware of the local parking rules and regulations and will suggest good streets for visitors to park their cars on if there is no parking available on their block. She added that their staff would assist them in getting to their cars safely if needed.
De Natale said that there is a driveway attached to the house and it is their intention that one or two of their cars will always be parked in the driveway.
The board then made a unanimous motion to support the South Ozone Park-home, allowing them to move into the neighborhood.
After the motion, De Natale was elated about the vote and reminded everyone to let their office know if there are any problems that arise during the construction of the home.
By Luis Gronda
