HAROLD WARREN RESIDENCE 30TH ANNIVERSARY - TONY GLOEGGLER, RESIDENCE MANAGER

30 years? 30 years is too long a time and I try never to think about it because I’ve grown slower, shorter and wider, creakier and unavoidably older and it doesn’t fee so good. But when I think about being part of Warren Residence for 30 years, I feel a bit better, I feel genuinely good and proud about the work that we’ve done and the things we’ve accomplished. Warren Residence has always felt more like a home than a residence to me.

It has this lived-in feeling about it as opposed to being a social services office or a place where people go to work or even some kind of model/showroom type of house where everything is perfectly in place. The staff is much friendlier and warmer than me and it’s kind of a loud and funky, informal place and I still feel good when I walk up the stoop and ring the bell. It has its own special chemistry, a unique energy that I can’t name and still I enjoy being there nearly every day. Whether you work here for over 20 years like Jamie, Gladys, Regina, Chris, Annette and Nancy or you just stop by for a year or two while you’re finishing school or end up sliding over to another position in Mercy Home I think you feel good and glad about the time you’ve spent at Warren.

All kinds and types of people have worked and will work at Warren and somehow we all end up finding a place and fitting in, belonging and contributing and becoming a big part of each others’ lives. Yes, working at Warren is a job and we do it professionally and really well; but it’s different too. We make connections and attachments and it becomes a little more, a little better than just a job profession and because of that we’ve been able to attract and keep a solid, conscientious staff who enjoy being around the men who live at Warren.

I don’t like to brag or give out too many compliments, but I feel confident that 7 people’s lives have been better and fuller because they’ve lived at Warren and I do believe that Warren Residence is what a group home is supposed to be. It’s a place that people feel is their home, a place where they are surrounded by people who care for and about them. Long before I ever heard of person-centered care, the guys were treated as individuals and given room to be themselves and we continue to try and find out what they like and don’t like. We afford them opportunities to stretch out and we try to make their world bigger while giving them the kind of help they need for as long as they need it.

But really Warren’s all about the people who have lived there are some things haven’t changed much in 30 years. Robert Hock is still the nicest guy you will ever meet. Flo remains moody and playful. James is diligent and dependable and still makes circles, while Lee prefers being by himself unless he is having his back rubbed. Larry is still hilarious, hard headed, handsome and incredibly stylish. John a newcomer with us for only 9 years, still likes country music and knows the name of everyone he’s ever met. And I still don’t feel comfortable putting on a sports jacket and speaking in front of  people.

But there have been some changes; some slow and some startling ones. Robert is seizure free and has grown stronger and better balanced. Lee and Flo can both go into a store, pick out what they want and pay for it. Larry will go to program and come home with his clothes all in one piece day after day, he’ll get up from the dinner table and no longer worry that someone will steal his food, he makes his own coffee or tea and nearly everyone in the neighborhood stops to greet him whenever he goes for a walk. John is one of the lead singers in the Mercy Home band, he converses with everyone who works in every store on Smith Street, he’s grown consistently more assertive and no longer needs a day and a half to make every decision.

And while James is still the strong silent type, he plays in the band and now makes different kinds of art, he’s learned to swim and stopped having aggressive outbursts, he cooks breakfast, owns a huge CD collection and works in a sheltered workshop and like most people spends his money as fast as possible.

And as for me, I’ve become more aware of how fortunate I’ve been to spend this time wit the people who’ve lived and worked at Warren these 30 years.