Staying Close to Home
Chase and Evan Kerner (pseudonyms) were at an important juncture in their lives. Diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome as eighth-graders, they were still living with their parents at 21. The looming question was how and where they would live their adult lives.

Individuals with disabilities often outlive their parents, becoming emergencies for their county Mental Retardation and Developmental Disability (MR/DD) boards, which must find placements for them. Resulting living environments may not be what the parents would have chosen.

The Kerner’s were determined to find a home that would empower and provide stability for their sons, but they couldn’t find a dwelling in their community that provided access to the financial assistance they needed. “As parents, however, we felt strongly that our children should be able to live in their own community,” Mrs. Kerner says.

Then Mrs. Kerner met Tim Vogel, president of Scioto. “We work with families and other support groups through the process of finding homes, as well as the process of identifying funding solutions to make them affordable,” Vogel says.

Within a few weeks Chase and Evan moved into their own condominium, hand picked by the family, only ten minutes from their parent’s home. They are close enough to community resources to walk or ride their bikes most places. “It’s such a credit to their independence that the twins can live in their own home and feel good about what they’re doing,” says their local MR/DD case manager.

“Scioto was the perfect solution,” Mrs. Kerner says. “Working with them, our choice of homes was expanded beyond dwellings that accepted government housing vouchers and into new neighborhoods. We also knew the home would be maintained."

“My husband and I could not be more pleased with our relationship with Scioto,” she concludes. ”We will never be able to thank them enough for providing this opportunity for our family."