Life(house) with Julia

Meet Julia- She is a part of the weekly activity based program, TRIP which supports teens from ages 13 to 22. The program is an opportunity for teens and young adults with developmental disabilities to foster physical, intellectual, and social development skills in a community based setting.  They currently have a weekly bowling meet-up on Thursday’s here in San Rafael.

It’s not hard to spot Julia in a crowd; her bright blue cap is covered in colorful anime buttons that she collects at different Anime Cons from her favorite artists. She readily admits that she is addicted to growing her collection but is very particular in choosing buttons that are true to her. 

Most of the buttons are Anime characters but some are odes to adolescent slang like “I ship it”- according to Urban Dictionary, it means: “when you imagine two people would be good in a relationship together.”   

Although she is an avid gamer girl and a millennial, Julia says that people use their cellphones too much. When she isn’t gaming, Julia likes to draw in her sketchbook that she brings just about everywhere. In the pages of her sketchbook, she has the freedom to illuminate her art around the theme of symmetry. Each shape is precisely outlined and colored in with sharpie, solely defined by the bleeds of the ink into the paper.

For more information or to inquire about activities with TRIP, please contact Mike Sus at msus@lifehouseagency.org.

Life (house) with Teodros

Meet Teodros- He has been a Lifehouse resident for the last six years and currently lives at Laurel House group home. Teodros’ polite temperament and genuine personality makes him delightful to chat with and be around. Like all of our Lifehouse residents in the Independent Living Service (ILS) program, Teodros sets goals for him to live as independently as possible and receives guidance from our expertly trained direct service professionals who help execute his plan to reach them.

Teodros’ current goals are becoming more organized and disciplined in recording and managing his appointments and weekly schedule, budgeting and saving money, and learning kitchen safety and to cook on his own. With sharpening these skills, Teodros hopes to find a job or volunteer position and to be able to move on to an even more independent living situation with less staff support.

In his free time, Teodros enjoys getting out and about in the community. He speaks fondly of spending time with Lifehouse resident Chloe. Together, they venture to the movies and museums. They also share a love for music and dance. You can see them showing off their dance skills at the annual Great Chefs and Wineries resident performance!

Are you interested in art, travel or Sci-fi? Then you and Teodros will get along just fine. He has an extensive and dynamic book collection that can take you on many adventures, from the Amazon rainforest to the fantasy world and chronicles of The Hobbit. His most prized of them all is H.G. Wells’ Time Machine.

Teodros’ enthusiasm for Sci-fi animation and cartoons have led him to take animation classes at Alchemia day program once a week. For the rest of the week, he attends the Autisry Studios program, which is geared towards facilitating learning experiences in education, vocation, and physical fitness. Particularly, this program supports Teodros in taking courses at College of Marin. He completed a math course just this last semester.

At Lifehouse, it is believed that the combined efforts of day and supported living programs can help individuals, such as Teodros, live inspired, purposeful and independent lives.

Life (house) with Kwame

Kwame Jackson-Ricks

Lifehouse Resident

Meet Kwame. He has been with Lifehouse for the last 11 years. He is in the Independent Living Service (ILS) program and lives in Laurel House. Here, Kwame lives with four other roommates and, with the assistance of our direct care professionals, they develop an extensive individualized plan for fulfilling goals towards greater independence.

Each plan concentrates on areas like mobility, food preparation, budgeting and banking, daily living skills, medical needs, housekeeping, and socialization. Kwame especially enjoys budgeting his money and has a goal to land a job this summer.

At Laurel House, all of the roommates take turns cooking throughout the week. Kwame loves to take this opportunity to apply what he has learned in cooking classes. Wednesday is his day to cook, and his specialty is veggie stir fry. Yum!

Lifehouse concentrates on the quality of life for both our employees and the individuals we serve. Wellness is a large part of that well- being. Kwame stays active by going to the local YMCA to work out, participates in a softball league on Thursdays in the summer, and is a regular participant in the Marin County Special Olympics. He was a proud participant in the Track and Field event this May in Novato.

An important part of the day to day life of the people we serve are programs provided by different institutions in Marin, Sonoma and San Francisco Counties. Kwame attends Alchemia’s performing arts program five days a week. Alchemia’s goal is to foster empowerment and enhance the visibility of their members. Kwame immerses himself in musical theater and drum line classes. This must be why he rocks it every year for the Lifehouse performance for Great Chefs and Wineries!

Stay tuned for updates on Kwame and other resident’s profiles.

Lifehouse Resident Spotlight

Meet Zachary Weil and Stacey Bowen

by Matthew Tarver-Wahlquist, VP/COO

Zach Weil and Stacey Bowen are longtime Lifehouse residents, participating in our
Supported Living Program living in their own apartment, with Lifehouse providing staff
support in areas such as domestic skills, financial management, social skills, health and
hygiene, community integration, and personal growth. In addition to receiving these
services from Lifehouse, both Zach and Stacey attend Alchemia Day Program, where they partake in activities such as art, outdoor activities, games, musical theatre, health nutrition classes, and comedy.

It is at Lifehouse and Alchemia where Zach and Stacey met, and now they are engaged.
Their engagement story began on New Year’s Eve of 2017. Stacey had always loved the Ball Drop in New York City. It also has an added significance; her mother’s birthday happens to be on New Year’s Day. Therefore, Zach knew that was the perfect time to pop the question. The moment 2017 became 2018, Zach and Stacey were engaged to be married.

This didn’t come completely out of the blue for Stacey, who had picked out an engagement ring on a trip to Disneyland earlier in the year. She has been dating Zach for the past six years, but she had no idea it would happen at such a perfect moment. “Stacey’s mom is friends with me, and I knew it was her birthday. I thought that would make it extra special,” says Zach, who was interested in Stacey “from the first time I laid eyes on her” when they started attending the Alchemia Day Program together. It began as a friendship, but soon after Stacey became newly single, and with some encouragement from her friends, it blossomed into a romance. “What’s inside of him is very sensitive”, Stacey says of Zach. “I’m ready to settle down and spend my life with somebody.” For Zach’s part, he is a great admirer of Stacey’s musical abilities. “I love the way she sings. It’s out of this world. She has the best voice.”

Zach and Stacey are both individuals who have been able to live independently with
Lifehouse staff support and became more and more confident in their abilities. Under the
Supported Living Program, they both were able to expand their horizons, learn about
what works for them in their daily routines, and most importantly learn how to advocate
for themselves in the community. For Zach, his eight years at Lifehouse enabled him to
mature into a responsible adult, and for Stacey, her seven years at Lifehouse helped her
gain a better understanding of her health issues and how to live better with these issues.

We are very excited for Zach and Stacey. As for their plans for the near future, the
couple plans to enjoy their engagement for a while without rushing to plan a wedding.
Valentine’s Day was celebrated by watching the film “50 Shades Freed” together. They also planned to watch the box office hit “Black Panther”. Congratulations and best wishes to Stacey and Zach, Lifehouse’s current Power Couple!