Out of the Life Skills Room and Into the City
- Nick Malone
- Apr 16
- 5 min read
In February 2005, 35-year-old Chicagoan Lenil Colbert found himself in a nursing home after suffering a stroke. Living with a new disability, and without anyone else to advocate for him, he shared a room with 3 other adults, was forced to stay in his room after 10 PM, and shared a single payphone with all of the facility's other residents.
In 2007, he filed a lawsuit against the state of Illinois, demanding that he and others in his situation be given the right to live independently in the community. His legal victory resulted in the Colbert Consent Decree of 2011, starting a movement across the state to connect with nursing home residents capable of managing their own care.
Association House is on the frontlines of this movement through its Comprehensive Class Member Transition Program (CCMTP). By collaborating with nursing homes in our service area, we help as many members of our community as possible to move out and manage their own lives in a home of their own.
But this process is easier said than done. For many of our participants, years spent in a restrictive care environment with round-the-clock support can make basic self-care and home management skills a serious challenge. This is why Association House created the Life Skills Room: a safe, judgement-free place for our participants to practice the fundamentals of independent living, with help from our team of Occupational Therapists and Registered Nurses.
"This space gives us the chance to really observe what our participants are capable of," says Katy Gallagher, one of the OTs working in the Life Skills Room. "Nursing facilities can be so tiny and restrictive, so they can't really show us how they transfer out of wheelchairs, for example-- which they need to be able to do on their own. Here, we have plenty of room to see where they're confident and where they're struggling, and provide adaptive equipment based on that."
The nursing team in the Life Skills Room is another indispensable resource for our participants. Our RNs lead with transparency, explaining the what and why behind the health management processes that once held our class members back while in restrictive care. With new knowledge, they gain control over these fundamentals.
"Knowledge is power in the Life Skills Room," says Catherine Southworth, one of our staff RNs. "Members learn about their symptoms and what to do in case of an emergency. They learn how to call their pharmacist for refills, learn to stick to their appointments, how to promote their overall health. The more they learn, the greater their success once they're on their own."
Since the Life Skills Room opened, support from our community partners has helped expand the skills our participants are able to practice. With a washer and dryer set, our participants can practice doing the laundry. With beds, couches, and chairs of varying heights, we can help furnish their new homes with the furniture that matches their mobility.
"There's a sense of freedom here that they can't get elsewhere," Katy says. "You can push yourself beyond what you thought you were capable of. We have utensils that can make eating easier for those with Parkinson's, we have hook tools for buttoning clothes. We show them all these devices because so many people have told themselves they'll never be able to cook again, never be able to clean again-- but here, we surprise people with how much they can do."
Ari Buslovich, a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, joined the OT team in the Life Skills Room this year with plans for a Leisure & Community Workshop. Over six weeks, she worked with our participants to explore accessible and fun leisure activities. In her work, she'd observed how many people gained independence only to spend it confined indoors, watching TV. With the workshop, she aimed to expand the horizons of everyone in the Life Skills Room.
After a few sessions spent in the Life Skills Room playing cards, painting, and enjoying music, our participants took on a major challenge together: a morning coffee run, including a commute by bus, placing orders, handling their own cash, and socializing in a new space. The trip uncovered some fears and new challenges for our participants, but doing so together gave them the confidence to push themselves to stay active in the neighborhood.
One participant, Jose, shared that he was afraid of taking the bus-- concerned about crime, and a difficult commute with his wheelchair. But by the end of the trip, he'd requested the wheelchair ramp himself getting on and off the bus; and struck up a conversation with another passenger. (They wound up taking a selfie together before our stop.)
Another participant, Mark, used Google Maps on his phone to follow the bus route. During our trip, he realized that the Dunkin we were headed to was in a neighborhood he'd lived in.
"I used to do maintenance at the Holy Trinity church down there," he told us, pointing as we rode down Division. "The whole place was a registered landmark so we had to be careful with everything we touched!"
At the coffee shop, all our participants took turns reading the menu, placing their order, paying, and finding a seat to hang out. Together, everyone spent an hour getting to know one another and enjoying their breakfast. On the bus ride home, new friends shared stories about their time in Chicago.
Jason, a published poet who shares his work online, told us about his tenure as a professor at Prairie State College. As we passed Humboldt Park, Maria laughed remembering how her kids played in the Humboldt Park pond. ("They'd bring home crawdads alive! Snapping their claws! I'd tell them to bring them back!")
When we made it back to the Life Skills Room, everyone reflected on the experience and felt excited about new possibilities once they secured their own home.
"Long way to go for a cup of coffee but it's good-- now I know I can use my legs that much!" Mark told us.
In the Life Skills Room, it’s never just about learning to cook, clean, or take the bus—it’s about rebuilding the belief that life can still be full. For so many of our participants, the world had shrunk to the size of their room in a nursing home.
But at Association House, surrounded by care, laughter, and small daily triumphs, the world begins to open back up. A trip for coffee becomes a reunion with a city once lost. A new friendship forms over stories of old jobs, childhood ponds, and poems. Every skill regained is a door reopened. And through it all, our participants are reminded that their lives are still full of possibility—on their own terms, in their own homes. ■
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Learn more about Case Management at Association House here.