(04/25/05) "Group home" is a loaded term. They've been criticized for being too large and impersonal, encouraging neglect or dependence. One alternative is the Individual Residential Alternative, known as an IRA. In an IRA, four to six disabled people will live together in a regular house, with 24-hour staff to take care of them.
There's a new IRA that just opened up in Potsdam for four women. Each of the women has some kind of developmental disability. Amber Treise is cognitively impaired and legally blind. It's not the first time she's tried to live alone. Gregory Warner joined Amber this past April as she checked out her new house for the first time. more
