header image

Shared Living

Caregiver Video

Shared Living is a service that brings together an individual, a couple or a family in the community with a person who has a disability to share their lives in an authentic, loving and respectful relationship of mutual dependence.

Shared living is successful when there is a mutuality of love and respect. A person and caregiver are on equal footing. Each have responsibilities, and they can both depend on each other. This is where each person has the space to live their most genuine lives, with opportunity, choice and a voice. Nonotuck fosters this dynamic for the people we serve and caregivers through support and oversight.

When a person with a disability is referred for shared living services, Nonotuck listens deeply to that person, their family and friends to discern their preferences and vision for their life. This includes where they wish to live, the make-up of the home and their dreams. Meanwhile, Nonotuck does extensive screening of families and individuals who wish to become shared living caregivers and then finds matches based on their likes, dislikes, routines, culture, personalities and more.

When a shared living household is created, Nonotuck provides training for the shared living provider to provide care for the person who has a disability, making sure that their needs are met and their voices are heard. Shared living caregivers and people with disabilities receive support and guidance from Nonotuck’s multidisciplinary team of Program Directors, Clinicians, Registered Nurses, and Care Managers. Caregivers receive a generous stipend and respite services, as needed.

Shared living is not a group home, foster care, boarding or residential program. Shared living is a long-term commitment to make someone a part of a home and a family.

Everyone wants to love and be loved, regardless of abilities, and shared living makes it happen, seamlessly.

 

Learn How to be a Shared Living Provider

“(Through shared living) people with a disability experience a real transformation and discover confidence in themselves; they discover their capacity to make choices, and also find a certain liberty and above all their dignity as human beings.”

Caregiving with Love:
Guide for Shared Living Providers

Learn how Nonotuck developed a love-based ideology of care. We started our shared living program as an alternative to group homes for people with disabilities. Instead, Shared Living creates genuine life transformation for people with disabilities, as well as families and communities. The true power of caregiving is found through hospitality, authenticity, and love.

 Visit Our Youtube Channel