THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510190176
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 218 lines
CRAIG BARTEL AND STEPHEN COX have a lot in common with young single guys who choose to share a condo for economic reasons.
They have jobs and stretch their salaries by packing brown bag lunches, shopping with coupons, seeking out free or low-cost weekend entertainment and thinking twice before splurging on a bag of chips or a fancy dip.
They share chores, take courses at Old Dominion University, do their own laundry, zap through TV channels with lightning speed and field phone calls and faxes from family and friends.
They live a typical Generation X existence, with one important difference. Both young men are classified as developmentally disabled, a term with which Cox is not at all happy.
``I am not disabled,'' he told his mother, Carrollyn Cox, in exasperation recently. ``I'm retarded.'' Retardation, the vocal 32-year-old firmly believes, does not equate to disability.
Bartel, who at 20 has far exceeded the expectations doctors and teachers held for him through his early childhood years, has been profoundly deaf since birth. He also suffers from autism, a little understood and often misdiagnosed condition that further hampers his ability to communicate.
Until recently, both young men would have been expected to spend their lives in institutions. These days, thanks to the support and determination of their families and increased community services, both men are able to live productive, independent lives in their hometown.
The productive part of that picture comes from within. Both Bartel and Cox want to give back to the community, go off to work like anyone else, bring home a paycheck and be good neighbors. Living independently, however, requires some outside help.
For Bartel and Cox, aid came in the form of the Business Network for Special Living Opportunities, which purchased a condominium and now leases it back to the young men at a rate based on their income. Known familiarly as BizNet, the private non-profit corporation is comprised of volunteers from the local business and professional community.
The Great Neck area condominium housing Bartel and Cox is one of two living units that BizNet opened in Virginia Beach this past summer as a first step toward chipping away at the long list of people who are ready for a taste of semi-independent living.
``Having Craig in this condo is a dream come true,'' Bartel's mother Dolores said. ``I've been a parent advocate for 20 years, working actively for 10 and we're finally beginning to see our work pay off.''
The obstacles facing those who advocate for housing for special populations are enormous. The number of people seeking community living arrangements has increased rapidly as institutions have scaled back and closed at the same time that more sophisticated medical treatment has saved many who would not have lived past infancy or early childhood.
With local, state and national budgets tighter than ever and the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) population becoming increasingly vocal on the issue of group homes in their subdivisions, finding suitable housing for the developmentally disabled has become more difficult.
Virginia Beach currently has about 150 persons placed in a patchwork of group and family homes and independent apartments with varying levels of supervision based on the client's needs.
They also have an equal number waiting for housing.
Supervision for Bartel and Cox is provided by an on-site Community Services Board Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MR/DD) employee who does paper work and data entry in one of the two units at night while electronically monitoring the other.
Workers in the program also aid with shopping, recreation and food preparation when needed.
Last summer's opening of the unit shared by Cox and Bartel is BizNet's latest step in a private and public partnership designed at closing the housing gap. In Virginia Beach, it taps into the resources of the business and professional community to help meet the housing needs of the clients in the city's MR/DD program.
BizNet is the brainchild of David Ramsay, the soft-spoken, unassuming president of Architectural Graphics Inc., a Virginia Beach-based sign firm with a nationwide clientele.
The organization sprang from an ad hoc committee of interested citizens that first met in 1989. They incorporated as BizNet in 1993 and received tax-exempt certification from the federal government a year later.
Ramsay's dedication stems from two important factors in his life.
First, he is the father of a 28-year-old severely retarded son who now lives locally in a supervised group home and works in a special job-training program.
When his son graduated from high school, Ramsay realized little was available to him in Virginia Beach. Fewer than 10 small group homes existed at the time, all with long waiting lists.
``I wanted to keep him in the community and I started looking around. All the permanent institutions had been shut down and they were just warehousing people,'' he added. ``They were shuffling them from one temporary spot to another.''
The second factor that triggered Ramsay's dedication to a better system of housing was his faith. He is a devoutly religious man with strong feelings about caring for those in need and giving back to the community.
Eventually Ramsay approached the Virginia Beach MR/DD staff about their housing needs. From that came the idea that if the ad hoc committee could organize and put together a home and provide one year's operating funds, the department could request continuing operating funds in its next budget.
Jay Lazier, MR/DD program director, and Patti Phelps, clinical services coordinator, made one thing clear to Ramsay: With budgets getting tight they could not assure that those funds would be approved.
``I shook hands with them and said, `Well, you do your part and I'll do mine and we'll see if we can't make this thing come together,' '' Ramsay explained.
Come together it did over the next few years. The organization's first efforts were to secure part of the funding for group homes meant to house three to five clients. The homes were staffed and managed by Community Alternatives Inc. (CAI), a private, non profit organization working under contract to the city.
While the small group of business and professional people provided seed money and expertise, Phelps pursued funds through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
With HUD picking up half the amount of each mortgage, the number of small group homes operated by CAI grew from seven to more than 30, Ramsay said. He is quick to give much of the credit to Phelps.
``She's a one-man army,'' he said. ``She is really the push behind all of this, the glue that holds it all together, and she's the interface with the leadership of the city that causes it all to happen.''
He also credits Community Services Board executive director Dennis Wool. ``He's got a 10-point program that cuts through red tape and emphasizes a close working relationship between the public and private sector,'' Ramsay said. ``It's a joy working with them.''
With more than 30 homes operational, the ad hoc group sat back, took a look at itself and decided to set up its own corporation to focus on its primary mission of securing housing.
They set a goal of purchasing outright two condos or townhouses each year for which they would provide maintenance and the city would provide staffing and services.
``We purchase them, we furnish them, we own them, we maintain them and we rent them to the clients,'' Ramsay said. ``That frees up service funds so that (the MR/DD program) can put more clients on line.''
The unit in which Cox and Bartel are living, along with another in the same complex, are the realization of the first year's goal. Two more units are planned next year.
Ramsay knows that housing for four to six people is a drop in the bucket as far as the needs of the MR/DD population is concerned.
``When I first got started I told people that I can't solve the world's problems but if I start this year with a couple of units it will make a difference for at least four individuals plus that many families and members of families,'' he said.
Ramsay also expects that, as the organization grows, the number of units opened each year will grow as well, as will BizNet.
The organization already has strong support from community leaders in the legal, medical, real estate, insurance, banking, manufacturing and retail communities. Some have a personal interest in the problems of the developmentally disabled, others simply see it as a community need.
BizNet is looking to increase its membership. ``We're looking forward to the future,'' Ramsay said. ``We can always use help from business and professional volunteers who can help with the work or donate funds but what we really need right now is a director.''
That person, Ramsay explained, should probably be retired, have lots of time available, good connections and some fund-raising experience.
Since all money raised by BizNet goes directly into the purchase, furnishing and maintenance of living units, pay comes in the form of thanks from people like Cox, Bartel and their families.
``I know that a few people can make a lot of changes in the world, and those in BizNet are just saints,'' said Stephen Cox's mother Carrollyn, an attorney who serves as an adviser to the group. ``We're just lucky that there are people like that in the world.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
A PLACE TO CALL HOME
[Color Photo]
Photos, including color cover, by L. TODD SPENCER
Craig Bartel, foreground, and Stephen Cox relax in the den of their
Great Neck area condo, one of two such units provided by BizNet in
Virginia Beach.
Craig Bartel, 20, takes care of plants outside his condo. Profoundly
deaf and autistic, he has exceeded the expectations doctors and
teachers held for him through his early childhood years.
``I am not disabled; I'm retarded,'' Stephen Cox, 32 - shown here
making his bed - told his mother, Carrollyn Cox, recently.
Retardation, he firmly believes, does not equate to disability.
Craig Bartel's work schedule is marked in pictures on a calendar.
Both Bartel and Cox want to give back to the community, go off to
work like anyone else, bring home a paycheck and be good neighbors.
``We purchase them, we furnish them, we own them, we maintain them
and we rent them to the clients. That frees up service funds so that
(the MR/DD program) can put more clients on line.''
David Ramsay, BizNet founder
Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Supervision for Craig Bartel, right, and Stephen Cox is provided by
Krissi Wood, an on-site Community Services Board Mental Retardation
and Developmental Disabilities employee.
BY THE NUMBERS
Where BizNet Dollars Go
For each unit it takes:
$1,000 to purchase appliances
$1,200 to purchase furnishings
$1,500 for one year's maintenance
$15,000 for a down payment
$90,000 to purchase a home
Where Developmentally Disabled Individuals Live in Virginia
Beach
Recent figures from the MR/DD program indicate that:
77 individuals live independently but receive support services
such as help with banking, shopping or getting to appointments.
24 individuals are in supervised living programs where house
parents are on site but do not remain awake at night.
50 persons are in supervised living programs with 24-hour awake
staff.
150 persons are known to be waiting for housing, and an unknown,
but probably at least equal, number are in need of housing but for
varying reasons are not on the waiting list.
For information on BizNet, call 437-6100.
by CNB