Monday, December 14, 2009

Women With Disabilities To Lose Residential Facility

EAST LYME, CT. — A residential facility for young women with disabilities in Niantic is closing Friday, citing a lack of funding and the inability to meet the criteria to receive money from the state Department of Developmental Disabilities.
The closing of North Washington House, operated by Lighthouse Voc-ed Center on North Washington Avenue, displaces five women. The future of a second facility, Beckwith House on Beckwith Street in Niantic, is also in question.
Diane Martin, a Waterford resident, said her daughter, Elaine, who is 22, has been at Beckwith House for one-and-a-half years. She said Elaine has become more independent and mature since living there.
"The girls are closer than most sisters. It's just amazing to see them together," Martin said. "It's a wonderful program, that's why us parents are so upset. It's like taking a very close family and scattering them."

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