Living interdependently
Coast Rehabilitation Services helps adults with
developmental disabilities participate in the community
Coastal Life
Story and photos by DWIGHT CASWELL
P
Perhaps you’ve seem them
cleaning the windows of busi-
nesses from Seaside to Astoria,
or you’ve shopped at the CRS
Thrift Store at Seventh and Bond
streets in Astoria, where they’re
on staff. Years ago these individ-
uals would have been in sheltered
workshops, never seen, and not
a part of the larger community.
They are adults with disabilities
who are supported by CRS, Coast
Rehabilitation Services.
Jake Carls is the executive di-
rector of CRS. His mission, and
that of the nonprofit organiza-
tion, is to help adults with dis-
abilities discover how they want
to live in the community and how
to get where they want to be. The
nonprofit does this by providing
residential supports and services
in group homes and private set-
tings, as well as employment and
day supports, such as work skill
training.
“CRS envisions a world in
which all people have the oppor-
tunity to participate in the com-
munity in which they choose to
live,” Carls says.
“They are people like anyone
else,” he says. “They have partic-
ular challenges, but who doesn’t
have challenges? People with de-
velopmental disabilities are peo-
ple first, and the disability comes
along as a secondary factor. Our
staff gives them the support they
need.”
In the 1970s, Carls lived in
the Southwest, working with
court-committed Native Ameri-
can teens. “We were an alterna-
tive to federal prison,” he says.
Providing education and inter-
personal skills, the goal was
to help the teens decide where
they wanted to be, as part of a
community, and to help them
get there. Carls soon found
himself working with children
— and then adults — with a va-
riety of developmental disabili-
ties. This eventually became his
focus, and 10 years ago he came
to CRS.
4 | August 27, 2015 | coastweekend.com
Photo by Dwight Caswell
The Coast Rehabilitation Services Thrift Store in Astoria supports the nonprofi t and accepts donations,
including reusable furniture, clothing and other household items.
Photo by Dwight Caswell
Jake Carls is the executive director of Coast Rehabilitation Services, a nonprofi t that supports adults with
disabilities in the community.
Find more information about Coast Rehabilitation Services at www.coastrehab.org
In training sessions, Carls will
ask new staff members what their
interests and hobbies are, so that
they’re aware of the informed
choices they’ve made in their
lives. “Our people haven’t had
those opportunities,” Carls tells
them. Then he asks, “How do we
give that to them?”
“It’s a lot of work to make
friends,” says Carls, “especially
if you are challenged in the area
of social skills.” The paid staff of
CRS help adults with disabilities
learn how to make friends, so that
if they go to a community event
they can make long-standing re-
lationships on their own. “We en-
courage social, recreational, em-
ployment and spiritual activities,
which will lead to a life of their
choosing,” he says.
Contrary to what many be-
lieve, the developmentally dis-
abled are treated by CRS, and
by the law, as adult citizens in
every way. They have the right
to vote; they have the right to
decide where to live and with
whom. However, they may not
have been exposed, as Carls says,
“to the benefits or risks of partic-
ular activities or relationships.”
The role of CRS is
not to decide what
activities are appro-
priate, but to help
these
individuals
understand the con-
sequences of their
actions.
Carls
says,
“When you ask
them, ‘what do you
want in your life?’
you have to be pre-
pared for answers
you might not like.
But it’s their life,
not ours.”
“The
future
looks different from what we
have currently,” Carls says, “es-
pecially in our schools. There is
a focus on keeping families intact
and people in the community.”
In the past the movement from
institutions to group homes was
necessary, he believes, but in
the future there will be a “move
to living arrangements suited to
them, with support.”
The stereotype of develop-
mentally disabled individuals is
that they will always need 24/7
support. “That’s not true,” says
Carls. “They can learn living
skills.” Not that they will live
independently. “Is
anyone truly inde-
pendent?” he asks.
“Who builds your
car? Who makes
your clothing? We
want our people to
be interdependent
in the community.”
He leaves unsaid:
like anyone else.
“Our
people
have been in the
community
since
1973,” when CRS
was founded, says
Carls, “but I’m not
yet certain that we
can say they are of the communi-
ty. Our hope is that through com-
munity education, and our in-
volvement in the community, our
people will not only be accepted
by the community, but that they
will be missed when they’re not
there.”
‘They are people
like anyone
else. They
have particular
challenges,
but who
doesn’t have
challenges?’