Lifesharing
Lifesharing is a residential option for children and adults with a disability. Lifesharing offers an opportunity to live as part of an extended family in the community. Participants are given the choice of where they want to live, who they want to live with, and a lifestyle of their own.
The Lifesharing program supports single people and families in the community in sharing their hearts and homes.
Lifesharing families support people by providing:
Stable and long term relationships
A safe and supportive home
The support to be a neighbor, a friend, a church member, a club member, and more.
Lifesharing can also be an option for relatives to support family members with a disability to stay at home.
Our Lifesharing program is available in numerous counties throughout the state of Pennsylvania.
Overview
With Skills’ Lifesharing program, families open their hearts and homes to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to provide security, support, guidance, and love. Lifesharing offers people with disabilities the opportunity to:
- live where they want
- live with whom they choose
- live the lifestyle they want
This program matches single people and families of all structures to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities including:
- individuals living with a single person or family in the community
- current family members who are already providing support or interested in providing support for a relative
Long-term, stable relationships enrich the quality of life for people with disabilities as they become active, participating members of the household and within the communities where they live. The goal of Lifesharing is to provide people with an everyday family and community life.
Lifesharing offers opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilites to live as part of a typical family setting. An important responsibility for family living providers is to create a sense of “home” for individuals with disabilities. The success of Skills’ Lifesharing Program is based on teamwork and collaboration with individuals, their birth families, and their Lifesharing families.
Person-Centered
Lifesharing meets the physical medical, emotional, and social needs of the individuals being served through:
- individualized, flexible programming
- stable, long-term relationships
- integration into the community
- support to reach individual goals and dreams
Lifesharing offers individuals the opportunity to make new friends and become involved in community activities with their Lifesharing family. The Skills Lifesharing program:
- focuses on the whole person instead of just the person’s basic needs
- provides individuals the chance to be a neighbor, a friend, a church member, a club member, and more
Becoming a Lifesharing Family
Lifesharing families are all ages, genders, races, nationalities, and religions. Lifesharing is for all family structures, from single people, single parents, empty nesters, families with children, and others.
Lifesharing providers are carefully screened via a process that involves interviews, references, home inspections, physicals, and background checks. Before making the commitment to Lifesharing, families must also complete a 24-hour orientation program and ongoing annual training.
Skills is always looking for families and single persons to provide homes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
A monthly stipend is provided to Lifesharing families. Ongoing support from the Skills Lifesharing team includes nursing support and oversight, and a Program Specialist assigned to each family to assist with day to day concerns and make monthly visits to the home.
Matching
Since 1987, Skills has been serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the Lifesharing program.
The Skills Lifesharing program emphasizes the importance of matching individuals with families; harmonizing of values, interests, and mutual commitments.
Lifesharing is a process in which the key is to find a family or person to share their lives. All people involved take the time needed to get to know each other, including visits and spending time together to develop a relationship before they move. The process is individualized and based on the commitment of everyone involved.
Skills’ Lifesharing Specialists provide ongoing consultation and support for the entire family including the individual, birth family, and Lifesharing family members.
