Citizens Options Unlimited (Citizens) provides supports and services to over 1,300 children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities across Long Island. With a staff of nearly 900 full- and part-time employees, we provide self-direction and fiscal intermediary/broker services, family supports and education, respite/recreation, and residential services.  

The organization is recognized as one of only four Compass agencies in New York State by the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), and one of two with both a Compass designation and Person-Centered Excellence Accreditation With Distinction through CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership.   

We look forward to sharing this and future publications highlighting our community and meaningful moments of advocacy, accomplishment, and action. 

Growing Up Together: Childhood Friends “Age Out” & Move Into Citizens’ New Group Home in Bayshore 

In the coming weeks, Citizens Options Unlimited (Citizens) will begin welcoming residents into their brand-new group home in Bayshore. The all-women’s residence will become home to six housemates, four of whom have been living together for years.  

Eileen Williams, Erica Sang, Gabby Marcial, and Megan Schuster will be “aging out” together from Brookville Center for Children’s Services’ children’s residential home in Wantagh. Brookville Center and Citizens are affiliated agencies.  

"Aging out” is a transitionary period for young adults with an intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD) that typically occurs between the ages of 18–21. The future Bayshore residents' ages range from 18–27 years old. Kyra Braxton and Tamara Morales will also be joining the Bayshore house from adult residential services in Westbury and West Islip.  

The six young women, along with their families and support teams, recently attended their fourth Meet & Greet, as they prepare for the move into their new home. These events help the future residents and families get to know each other and the home. At the most recent Meet & Greet, the women enjoyed dinner together and then piled onto the couch to watch a movie. 

“Some of the girls have bonded over shared activities,” shared Eva Sang, mom of future resident Erica. For Erica and Megan, it’s a mutual love for amusement parks, especially Adventureland in East Farmingdale. The housemates also bonded over basketball. 

Camp Loyaltown Opens June 18! 

Camp Loyaltown Summer 2023 is almost here! We expect to have over 400 campers and 150 counselors joining us this summer. Session 1 kicks off on June 18 with our final session ending on September 10.

As the season quickly approaches, counselors and staff from all over the country and the world are making their way to upstate New York! A shout out to our counselors from Scotland, Jamaica, and Mexico!

We are thrilled to be welcoming back many returning counselors — some whom will be spending their 7th season at Camp. 

Learn more about Camp Loyaltown and our year-round respite services, here. 

Hear from some of our international campers in this Instagram video.

Saturday Respite in Brookville 

How can someone be everywhere at once? Chantal Joseph, Respite Supervisor, has worked in developmental disability care for nearly 40 years, starting her career as a DSP. You can sometimes find her at our Friday Night Dance Respite service or covering a shift in one of our 25+ group home locations. Despite where you bump into Chantal, the response from the people she supports is always the same: happy to see her.

Each week, she engages her Saturday respite crew in new activities that are based on everyone who attends personal preferences. Their activities are centered in inclusivity, fostering independence, and solidifying better habits.

“I enjoy seeing people supported have fun, while at the same time parents have a much-deserved break,” Chantal said. 

Her team consists of a manger from another department and two young upcoming care providers who are eager to learn and work with this population.

They eat breakfast together, which they like to refer to as The Breakfast Club. They play sports and games; they play trivia, hang man and bingo; they paint nails and chit-chat; they do arts and crafts; they go on walks; but really, they’ve become a great group of friends. 

“We are always working on our skills and becoming more independent,” Chantal said.

At lunch time, they remind each other not to talk with your mouth full and to put your lunch box away when you’re done eating. After lunch is done, they all pick a chore and help to clean up. 

When they paint their nails, they remind each other to let them dry before getting up from the table. After they’re dry, they pick which activity they want to do next.

When they play hang man, they take turns guessing a letter - some by shouting their guess out loud and others that are nonverbal go up to the screen and point to the letter they want to guess.

Many attendees of Saturday respite also participate in Virtual Connections, one of our daily respite services. When they come here, they get to catch up with the familiar faces they see in virtual throughout the week and create friendships that exist outside of our services.

Looking Back on Our Legacy: How Pioneering Parents Transformed Disability Care on Long Island  

Citizens Options Unlimited wouldn’t be where it is today without the devotion and support of those that came before us — the agency’s original founders, board members, and countless mothers and fathers who advocated for change at a time when disability services did not exist.  

“A lot of our parents were pioneers in disability care and opening Helen Kaplan,” said Marta Garavito, Citizens Options Unlimited Director of Helen Kaplan Intermediate Care Facilities (ICF). 
 
One of these pioneers was the late, great parent advocate Honey Franklin, who organized several charity initiatives, ranging from equestrian events to a celebrity cookbook, to bolster the agency supporting her son, Bobby Franklin.  
 
For nearly 40 years, Bobby has lived in Helen Kaplan ICF in Plainview, one of the first ICF campuses to open on Long Island. 

“Bobby is very active and has a sense of humor,” Marta said. “He loves to eat and despite vision issues, can always find his way to the fridge for a late-night snack.” 

While Bobby is leading the life his mom helped forge, the journey to Helen Kaplan began for the Franklin family as it did for many families in the 60s and 70s.  

Across Our Services, We Celebrated National Nurse Week 2023 

In honor of National Nurse Week, May 6–12, Citizens Residential Services celebrated our incredible team!  

“I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the extraordinary contributions our nurses make to ensure the health of the people we support. Nurses stand on the front line of health care, working compassionately through the most challenging of circumstances. Your advocacy and professional judgment, in many instances, saves lives. Your contributions to the health of the people we support, and our organization are invaluable.” — Stanfort J. Perry, Chief Executive Officer 

“If you look up the word RESILIENT, it is defined as ‘able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.’ I would argue that this could also be the definition of a NURSE! The goal of supporting people’s best health, so that they can live full lives, is always at the forefront of all that you do! I am very proud of you all and honored to practice nursing with you!” — Nicole Uterano-Ferrar, RN, Vice President of Health Services

Recognizing Employees of the Quarter for Q1 2023 

Congratulations to our Employees of the Quarter: Shayna Staton, House Manager at Shoreham; Kristie Walter, LPN at Shoreham; Roselene Sylvestre, DSP at Helen Kaplan; and Craig McNeill, DSP at Kirkland. Winners were nominated and highlighted by their peersfor exceptional and outstanding work in the first quarter of 2023. The event was co-hosted with our partner agency, AHRC Nassau. 

Matt Hofele Shares His Story with Newsday 

Matt Hofele, a resident of Citizens’ Greenlawn residence, was recently featured in Newsday, after being interviewed for the “Faces of Long Island” column. In the poignant interview, Matt discusses his journey that began with a traumatic brain injury as a child. “My parents were told I would be in a vegetative state for the rest of my life. I never gave up,” Matt said. 

Check out the full “Faces of Long Island” interview here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 

Citizens Options Unlimited Merges Social Media Accounts With Camp Loyaltown 

Starting June 1, Citizens has merged its social media accounts with Camp Loyaltown, our upstate New York respite program. We look forward to sharing posts from across all of the community. Stay up to date with Citizens by following us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  

We cannot wait to see you there!