Service agency celebrates 10 years

Living Innovations opens Exeter office

By Lara Bricker
Portsmouth Herald, August 7, 2007

EXETER – When Neal Ouellett founded Living Innovations in 1997, he worked out of a one-room office on Islington Street in Portsmouth.

Today as the organization celebrates its 10-year anniversary, there are nine offices throughout New England from Salem to Exeter to Bangor, Maine.

Living Innovations provides support services to senior citizens, individuals with long-term illnesses or developmental disabilities and children with health and behavioral needs to help optimize their quality of life, both at home and in the community.

“The idea was that anybody could live in a real home and be part of the community and it would be our job to find the right home and the right staff to make that happen for people,” Ouellett said of his concept in founding the organization.

Ouellett, who has been in human services since 1974, previously worked as the executive director of Community Development Services in Portsmouth as well as a social worker helping people with disabilities.

“I think people are basically drawn to the kind of work they do and I’ve always been drawn to  helping people who are seen as the underdog take their place and really show people what they can do,” Ouellett said. “It’s been an exciting thing for me to do.”

One experience that cemented his dedication to the human services field was helping people leave the Laconia State School in the early 1980s during a time of de-institutionalization.

The idea for Living Innovations came to Ouellett as he watched his parents and his friends’ parents age. He felt there was a need for an organization that could help make it possible for the elderly to stay in their homes.

“When you talk to the elderly, they say they’ll stay home as long as they can before they have to go to a nursing home,” he said, adding his organization helps with “anything that’s needed to help them stay at home.”

Living Innovations helps seniors and their families access services that make that possible. They refer clients to various case management type agencies for help with the financial aspects of their case. Often family members work within the resources they have to make it possible and sometimes they sell their home or move into a smaller home, he said.

Living Innovations has about 300 staff members and is expanding its options for seniors with a service model called Home Share. Home Share matches clients with trained home providers and their families to provide the elderly with comfortable private rooms, home-cooked meals, companionship, access to community activities and other services to meet their specific needs, at a cost that is comparable to conventional assisted living facilities. “We put them through training,” Ouellett said of the providers. “We give them a lot of support.”

A similar program was instituted for people with developmental disabilities some years ago and Living Innovations now oversees more than 200 home providers through that service.

The organization recently opened a new office in Exeter in an office at 1 Hampton Road. That office is dedicated to providing support services to people with developmental disabilities. The organization has about 26 clients it serves from the Exeter office who live in private homes. It also has two group homes, one in Newmarket and one in North Hampton, where it provides care for several severely disabled clients who need round-the-clock care. It also facilitates an independent living program from the Exeter office for the southern portion of Rockingham County. The program is aimed at people who are able to live on their own in an apartment or house but need some support.

Living Innovations’ office in Exeter also offers in-home support services for families who have a child with severe disabilities, Ouellett said.

“I think what sets us apart is that we’re non-exclusionary regarding who we serve,” Ouellett said. “If there’s an individual who needs support, we will work with them to get it done. We work with little children and we work with senior citizens.”

Ouellett said he expects the organization to continue to expand into new areas of New England, including Massachusetts.

As for his thoughts on how far the organization has come in the past 10 years, Ouellett said he was so busy working he didn’t get caught up in its growth.

“I had no idea it was going to grow like that,” he said. “Every once in a while I have to pinch myself. It has been a pleasure to watch this company grow over time and fulfill the needs of so many people on the Seacoast and beyond.”

For information about Living Innovations call (603) 422-7308.