Thursday, February 21, 2013
Local service organizations have pushed for changes to local laws that require people operating group homes to obtain a conditional use permit.
Barb Griffith wants St. Charles residents to know people with disabilities are no different from anyone else—they just want to enjoy their homes and socialize with friends. "We want to be good neighbors and we want to promote people that live in their community," said Griffith, CEO of St. Peters-based Community Living. In the future, a group of people with disabilities will be able to move into a house in a St. Charles neighborhood without having to get special conditional use permit. St. Charles City Council voted on Tuesday to change the city zoning codes to allow "group homes" in the city as a permitted use, meaning they wouldn't have to appear before the city council. It's a change long sought by organizations that provide support to …
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Group homes remain a sometimes controversial issue in St. Charles County. Local governments can't bar them but can restrict how close they are to each other.
Lisa Drier remembers a man who spent years in a nursing home before moving into a group home in Wentzville. The man hadn’t eaten in a restaurant for years, Drier said the staff learned. “He walked in and said, 'It feels so good to be home,’” said Drier, who is the executive director of the Emmaus Trust Foundation. Emmaus is a St. Charles-based nonprofit organization that operates group homes for disabled people. But group homes in residential areas are a complicated issue issue these days. Some area municipalities have laws that limit the number of group homes by requiring them to be a certain distance apart. Others require group homes to obtain a special conditional use permit from the city. Some residents have protested putting group …
Friday, May 20, 2011
Groups look for volunteers to help with garden program.
A casual conversation on a porch swing about the joys of gardening several years ago planted the seeds for an idea that germinated Wednesday in St. Charles. The conversation between a caseworker and a client sparked the idea of spreading that joy to the developmentally disabled adults here. On Wednesday the idea came to fruition when clients served by several agencies in St. Charles cut the ribbon on an adaptive garden at Emmaus Homes. The garden, with funding from the Developmental Disabilities Resource Board of St. Charles County (DDRB), gives clients of Emmaus Homes, Community Living, Willows Way and RHD-Missouri the opportunity to plant and harvest their own organic produce. The agencies a variety of services for individuals with …
38.800682
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Emmaus Homes
2200 W Randolph St, Saint Charles, MO
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1512890
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Friday, January 14, 2011
The continuity of service and difference in demographics served helped with the transition.
Last summer’s merger between two local entities which help the disabled in both St. Charles and Lincoln counties seems to have meshed well with little noticeable alteration in services. “As far as the programs side, they’ve not seen any changes for the families,” said Christine Rutherford, director of development. “Other than the name change, nothing has changed for them.” The joining of St. Peters-based Community Living, Inc. and Family Support Services, headquartered in O’Fallon, took place with a symbolic ribbon-tying ceremony in July. The combined organization, which serves about 800 individuals and their families, operates under the Community Living name. Rutherford said that the merger was made easier by two important factors, the …
