{"id":16583,"date":"2015-04-09T10:57:40","date_gmt":"2015-04-09T14:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-construction-works-with-aim-to-build-home-for-disabled-individuals.html"},"modified":"2015-04-09T10:57:40","modified_gmt":"2015-04-09T14:57:40","slug":"saratoga-construction-works-with-aim-to-build-home-for-disabled-individuals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/saratoga-construction-works-with-aim-to-build-home-for-disabled-individuals\/","title":{"rendered":"Saratoga Construction Works With AIM To Build Home For Disabled Individuals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n<\/div>\n
Cecil Provost, right, of Saratoga Construction, with Chris Lyon of AIM Services Photo \u00a92015 SaratogaPhotographer.com<\/small>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
BY JILL NAGY<\/p>\n
When four disabled adults moved from the \nO.D. Heck Center in Schenectady to a four bedroom \nhouse on Crooked Street in Galway, \nit represented the culmination of more than \ntwo years of planning on the part of AIM \nServices Inc., and Saratoga Construction.<\/p>\n
The house was custom designed and built \nfor the four individuals who are now living \nthere, according to Chris Lyons, senior director \nand counsel for AIM Services, a nonprofit \norganization in Saratoga Springs serving \npeople with disabilities and their families.<\/p>\n
The cost was “north of $400,000,” in addition \nto the cost of the land, said Lyons.<\/p>\n
Cecil Provost, president of Saratoga Construction, \nworked closely with AIM personnel \non the design and construction of the home. \n“It was built for specific people, custom \nbuilt to support those people,” Lyons said. All \nof them have “serious cognitive challenges” \nand the house had to provide for their safety \nwhile allowing them the maximum possible \nindependence.<\/p>\n
In fact, Provost was involved even before \nthe decision to build the house. His company \npreviously built a house in Saratoga Springs \nfor AIM. He told them about the Galway \nproperty, 5.12 acres that Lyons describes as \n“a bucolic, pastoral setting,” facing a wooded \narea, but with neighbors on the street.<\/p>\n
“They love taking long walks on the rolling \nstreets of Galway,” Lyons said of the residents.<\/p>\n
About the time that AIM was buying the \nproperty, in early 2013, the regional office \nof the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) approached \nthe agency with a request that they \nprovide services for the four individuals soon \nto be displaced from the O.D. Heck campus \nand needing appropriate, less restrictive, \nhousing and programming.<\/p>\n
There followed a process of getting to \nknow the potential residents, evaluating \ntheir needs, and designing a new home for \nthem. The result is a four-bedroom house \nwith living room, dining room, kitchen, and \na den with a porch that also serves as a quiet \narea. There is an office downstairs for staff \nwith its own entrance. At the same time, \nthe 12 staff members who would work at the \nhouse got to know the people who would live \nthere and received specialized training to \nmeet their needs.<\/p>\n
In addition to walking the rolling streets, \nthe residents go to the YMCA, stop for coffee \nat Stewart’s, and have day programs at a \nspace owned by Stewart’s and set aside for \ntheir use. There is a car at their service for \nactivities away from home.<\/p>\n
While everything was designed and built \nfor the four who now live there, the space can \nbe adapted to the needs of others. However, \nLyons said, “we expect them to stay there for \nthe long foreseeable future.”<\/p>\n
AIM was established in 1979. They provide \nhousing and programming for over 110 \nindividuals in 17 agency-owned residences \nin Saratoga and Warren counties. They also \nown or lease four “supportive apartments” \nfor individuals able to live on their own with \nassistance from time to time.<\/p>\n
“We are constantly growing with the \ncounty,” Lyons said, “More people are moving \nhere who need our services.” \nOne of their programs provides an alternative \nto nursing home care, allowing people \nto remain in their homes. Another growing \nservice is clinically supported respite care \nfor caregivers.<\/p>\n
“Respite is big right now in the county,” \nhe noted. In fact, AIM plans a program for \ncommunity leaders to tell them about their \nservices, including what they are calling \nenhanced respite. That is scheduled for 8 \na.m. April 22 at the AIM, Inc. administrative \noffices at 4227 Route 50, Saratoga Springs. \nAIM can be reached by telephone at 587- \n3208.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cecil Provost, right, of Saratoga Construction, with Chris Lyon of AIM Services Photo \u00a92015 SaratogaPhotographer.com BY JILL NAGY When four disabled adults moved from the O.D. Heck Center in Schenectady to a four bedroom house on Crooked Street in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":21905,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[57,75,85],"class_list":["post-16583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","tag-business-news","tag-galway","tag-housing"],"yoast_head":"\r\n
Saratoga Construction Works With AIM To Build Home For Disabled Individuals - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\r\n