Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities 2024

FEATURING MIKE RENZENBRINK

• Building Connections

• Making A Difference

• Big Opportunities

Cuyahoga DD connects individuals with developmental disabilities and their families with resources to help them live their best lives.

Making Meaningful Connections

Building Connections

Cuyahoga DD creates community connections and opportunities for independence.

The Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities has supported and empowered people with developmental disabilities (DD) to live, learn, work and play in the community since 1967. Primarily funded by a continuous levy last passed by Cuyahoga County voters in 2005, Cuyahoga DD supports people with disabilities of all ages to pursue the things that will help them live their best lives. With a focus on making Cuyahoga County inclusive and welcoming for people of all abilities, Cuyahoga DD strives to help the people it serves build meaningful connections in their community and live as independently as they want.

2024

Family Fun Fairs

Saturday, May 18

Saturday, June 8

Sunday, July 28

Sunday, October 20

Connecting young families to Cuyahoga DD and each other.

Navigating life as a parent of a child with developmental disabilities can be overwhelming. Cuyahoga DD offers a variety of supports and services to families, but often, parents do not know where to go once they get started. To help families navigate their experience with Cuyahoga DD and also help them create a community of their own, Cuyahoga DD hosts Family Fun Fairs every summer.

The Family Fun Fairs are held outdoors at Cuyahoga DD buildings and include a variety of engaging activities for children ages 0 to 14 to enjoy, such as music therapy, petting zoos, magic shows, inclusive story time and more. Family Fun Fairs are designed to provide a supportive space where parents can let their kids be who they are and can also make connections with other families. Representatives from Cuyahoga DD departments that support children are also available to help connect families to services or provide information about supports that might be helpful in the future.

Family Fun Fairs are open to children ages 0 to 14 (and their families) who receive services from Cuyahoga DD.

Making A Difference

“ The fact that he’s able to do this, out in the community, with other people, and has acclimated to that, is amazing. I’m very proud.”

– Stacey Renzenbrink

Volunteering has helped Mike Renzenbrink build confidence — and meaningful connections — in the community.

Mickael (Mike) Renzenbrink does not like to sit at home. He prefers to be out in the community. He likes to spend his time outside, taking walks, riding the water slides at the Westlake Aquatic Center, building with Legos (he’s what you might consider a “master builder”), spending time at Lake Erie and volunteering.

Mike and peers from his day program at Welcome House participated in Cuyahoga DD’s first-ever day of service in October 2022. During the day of service, Cuyahoga DD staff volunteer alongside people with disabilities at organizations across Cuyahoga County. Mike and his direct support professional, Felisha Reeves from Welcome House, spent the day at the Lutheran Men’s Shelter downtown, where they served food to residents.

After they left, Mike told Felisha he wanted to go back, so she reconnected with the shelter and set up a time for him to volunteer once a month. Soon, that turned into twice a month, and now, Mike volunteers at the shelter once a week. He serves bread and cookies to the residents, he helps with garbage and sweeping the floors, and he recently learned how to help with the dishes.

Since he began volunteering, Mike’s mother, Stacey Renzenbrink, has seen a change in him. “He seems a little more independent, a little less hesitant to do things. Now, he just does them,” she says.

Felisha, who has worked with Mike since he began at Welcome House in 2020, agrees. “When he first started, he was not sure of himself. He always had to ask me, ‘What do I do?’ Now, he goes off with some of the others, and I go into the back, trying to see how far we can take him,” she says. “He now has confidence to try new things without asking if it’s OK.”

Mike says that volunteering makes him feel happy. He likes to be helpful and meet new people. He likes to get out into the community. “I like to go places,” he says. According to Felisha, he knows the days when he’s supposed to volunteer, and he knows the route they take to the shelter, one that takes them past a landmark that is special to Mike: Progressive Field. “He enjoys it so much,” she says. “He’s out of sorts if he doesn’t get to go.”

Lydia Bailey, coordinator of volunteers for Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry’s Men’s Shelter, says, “When he arrives, I see how he loves coming into the kitchen. His smile and his body language show he is so eager to see the kitchen staff, and he gives a fist bump to everyone.”

For Stacey, seeing the connections Mike has made has been remarkable. “As a parent, I never thought that we would get there,” she says. “The fact that he’s able to do this, out in the community, with other people, and has acclimated to that, is amazing. I’m very proud.”

“Dad, too,” Mike adds.

“Dad, too,” she affirms.

Participating in Cuyahoga DD’s day of service helped Mike create connections in the community. In addition to the men’s shelter, Mike volunteers at the Children’s Book Bank and the Goods Bank NEO. He’s influenced his peers at Welcome House to become more engaged in the community through volunteering as well.

Stacey and Felisha believe his experience volunteering will help him in other ways, too, like finding a job where he earns his own money. “The idea that at one point in time he might be able to hold a job far exceeds what I thought was possible,” Stacey says.

Mickael “Mike” Renzenbrink

“ Tiny homes could be a big game-changer for people with DD.”

– Melanie Rak, chief program officer

Big Opportunities

Tiny homes open doors to increased independence.

“When most people think about tiny homes, they envision an affordable housing option for those who no longer need a large home and are looking to downsize or those who are making a conscious choice to reduce their footprint,” says Melanie Rak, chief program officer at Cuyahoga DD. “But after visiting Madison, Wisconsin, where they were being used to support people with housing challenges, we saw an opportunity to use tiny homes as an innovative housing opportunity for people with developmental disabilities.”

Cuyahoga DD’s pilot tiny home, expected to open in 2024, will be situated in the backyard of a community rental home owned by North Coast Community Homes, Cuyahoga DD’s longtime housing partner. Developed using local levy dollars, it is an affordable housing option for individuals with DD who want to live more independently.

Located in Maple Heights, a Cuyahoga County community that has embraced tiny living, the pilot home is being built by Tiny Home Living, a builder that committed to customizing the layout to accommodate people with disabilities. For example, traditionally, tiny homes have lofted bedrooms. The bedroom in the Cuyahoga DD tiny home will be on the ground floor. Other features to support people with DD include an

accessible main entrance and bathroom doors, a roll-in shower, kitchen and bathroom sinks that allow space for a wheelchair, and an all-in-one washer and dryer as opposed to the stacked units commonly seen in tiny homes.

With its location on the property of an existing community home for people with disabilities that is staffed by an agency provider, Cuyahoga DD’s tiny home is an opportunity for people with DD to test the waters of independence. They get the benefit of living in their own home, but the peace of mind knowing that staff is nearby should they need help or that there are friends just across the yard if they want to socialize.

Tiny homes for people with DD could also be one way to help alleviate staffing pressure agency providers face. Many providers have been operating with staffing shortages for years, a situation that became more pronounced with the COVID-19 pandemic. Under this model, people who can live mostly independently can live in the tiny home, accessing staff as needed, and people with greater support needs can live in the main home, with more consistent access to staff.

In addition to locating tiny homes on the property of existing community homes, there are several other ways these small residences could be used to support people with DD. A tiny home could be on the property of a person’s family home, where they rely on natural supports like family members instead of paid staff. Still another application could be a cluster of tiny homes within a larger neighborhood.

“There are many people we serve in Cuyahoga County who are looking for a housing option that allows them to balance independence with the comfort of a community,” Rak says. “Tiny homes could be a big game-changer for people with DD.”

12 x 24 Tiny Home Layout