Assisting Independence

Kent State students help group home residents learn everything from crossing the street to cooking dinner

by Tim Bugansky
photos by Allison Waltz


The Meridian group home in Ravenna is a family-oriented living environment for the eight men who live there. Linda Rohr (left), a senior psychology major at Kent State, spends her afternoon enjoying the fresh air on the swing with Rick (right). Rohr was a full-time employee with Independence for two years. Now she is a sub-employee.

It's just after 2 p.m. on a Monday in late September. The men of Ravenna's Meridian group home, run by the non-profit Independence of Portage County, are getting back from their jobs at Portage Industries.

First come Rick, Bert and Doug off the PARTA bus. They climb the porch steps, enter the house and begin their afternoon routines. Soon Morgan, Ricky, Bob, Mike and Kevin will arrive on the Portage Industries' bus, and the house will be abuzz with after-work activity.

The men change their clothes, gather dirty laundry, help put away dishes in the kitchen, munch on cookies and Popsicles, prepare coffee mixed with envelopes of instant cocoa, watch television and just relax a bit.

These may seem like common, simple activities. But to the eight developmentally disabled men at Meridian, it took a lot of work to learn to perform many of the tasks. And to retain the ability to do them, the men must practice again and again with the help of Independence's workers, who are habilitation aides. The aides also cook for the residents and help to manage each of the households.

Quite often the habilitation aides are Kent State students majoring in psychology or another related field of study. Most come to Independence seeking work experiences, but many come away from the job with experiences that go beyond practical and toward profound.

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