JF&CS/Twin Lakes Group Home Ready for Residents
The home in Rutledge is named for Eric Robbins, the current Federation CEO and former Camp Twin Lakes CEO.
Jewish Family & Career Services and Camp Twin Lakes have opened a fully licensed group home for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The Eric M. Robbins Group Home at Camp Twin Lakes, named for the former Twin Lakes CEO who is the CEO and president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, will provide support to help residents live as independently as possible in a year-round community where they can live, work and play in an inclusive camp environment.
“This is the ideal partnership, allowing individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to have an affordable home of their own, along with opportunities for employment and community involvement,” said LaWanda Crawl, the director of intellectual and developmental disabilities services at JF&CS.
The home is on Twin Lakes’ Rutledge campus, about 45 minutes east of Atlanta. The house is fully compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The nonprofit partners in the venture are looking for people to live in the home, home care workers and house managers to support the residents, and nearby employment opportunities for the residents.
“There are several former campers with medical and life challenges for whom the opportunity to live at camp would be a dream come true.” Twin Lakes CEO Jill Morrisey said. “Camp Twin Lakes is excited to deepen our impact for campers all year long, beyond the summer camp experience.”
With the support of the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, the JF&CS/Camp Twin Lakes partnership began in 2012 with discussions about building a house for adults with developmental disabilities on Twin Lakes land, and they raised money for and built the group home.
Participants in the JF&CS IndependenceWORKS program developed housekeeping skills by cleaning the facility, which was completed in 2015, beginning the licensure process.
“The JF&CS program strives to offer opportunities for adults with disabilities to be as independent as possible and gain employment in the area of their interest,” JF&CS CEO Rick Aranson said. “This unique and innovative project enables us to achieve these important goals.”
Camp Twin Lakes Chief Operating Officer Dan Matthews said the camp is committed to offering jobs to the residents within camp operations, from food service and housekeeping to the farm. “We are also committed to ensuring that the residents have opportunities to be a part of our local Morgan County community.”
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