Community Corner

Clearbrook Open House To Showcase Gages Lake Facility For Disabled Adults

Clearbrook proves to be a welcome addition to the SEDOL campus in Gages Lake. An open house will be held this Sunday, Oct. 16.

When the Special Education District of Lake County (SEDOL) opened its new Laremont School on its Gages Lake campus last year, a resourceful staffer from Clearbrook, one of the state’s largest providers of programs and services for disabled adults and children, saw a unique opportunity to forge a special, and logical, relationship.

“I happened to ask what they were doing with the old school,” said Denise Rau, program director of Clearbrook’s Developmental Training North facility, which relocated from North Chicago to the SEDOL campus earlier this year.

As it so happened, the former Laremont building, which also houses SEDOL’s Gages Lake School, had about 5,500 square feet of space available. The wheels began turning for Rau, who contacted SEDOL Superintendent Tom Moline in the hopes of Clearbrook renting the vacant space. They moved in last May.

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“It’s a perfect fit,” said Moline.

The facility, which provides state-funded programs and services to disabled adults 22 and older, will host an open house from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16 at 18180 W. Gages Lake Road. The afternoon will include tours and mock activities so potential clients and their families can get a feel for the program.

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Rau said Clearbrook is thrilled to be located on SEDOL’s sprawling Gages Lake campus, which lends itself to outdoor activity space they did not have in North Chicago.

“It’s a very comfortable space. Our facility in North Chicago was located in an industrial park with no sidewalks” and no real outdoor program space, she said.

Because of this, said Rau, the North Chicago facility was not getting many referrals for students about to transition out of SEDOL’s high school program at Laremont School into an adult program. The relocation has changed this.

“The beauty of our partnership with the (SEDOL) school district is they will train our staff,” said Rau.

When a student transitions out of Laremont into Clearbrook’s adult program, SEDOL staff work with Clearbrook staff so they have a better understanding of the individual’s needs, abilities, challenges and personality.

“That is huge for families,” said Rau.

Moline called the facility “is a natural fit” for SEDOL, adding families of transitioning Laremont students appreciate the stability that comes with having adult services on the same campus.

“We really appreciate that Clearbrook provides services five days a week. Other programs can be limited,” said Moline.

Clearbrook’s Developmental Training Facility North currently has 30 adult clients, many of whom are wheelchair-bound.

The facility operates from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Trained Clearbrook staff work with disabled adults on everything from personal hygiene and daily tasks to social skills, though there is no job training program.

“They are profoundly physically and developmentally disabled,” said Rau of the clients.

The Clearbrook program, she said, focuses more on leisure activities and day-to-day living routines.

“We really have a niche,” said Rau. “The type of care Clearbrook provides, you really have to want to be a caregiver.”

Clients do not have to come from Laremont to enroll in the state-funded program, noted Rau. Additionally, clients can stay with the developmental training program indefinitely. One individual is in his 70s, she said.

Long History

Clearbrook was established in 1956 by five families who wanted a school for their special needs children. Clearbrook’s first classroom opened in a Rolling Meadows barn designated the “Rolling Meadows Community School for Retarded Children Council.”

Their first permanent building opened in 1961. By 1970, Clearbrook removed “For the Retarded” from its name to reflect the expansion of the agency’s services to a broader group of individuals.

Clearbrook’s first adult residential program opened in 1973 in Arlington Heights, where their administrative offices are currently located. Today, Clearbrook serves more than 3,000 disabled individuals in nearly 40 facilities.

To learn more, visit www.clearbrook.org. The Developmental Training Facility North can be reached at (847) 986-6568.


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