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http://www.newsday.com/news/local/w...,0,1618960.story?coll=ny-region-apconnecticut
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- For a fortunate few, the isolation that comes with deafness and is sharpened by old age could be eased with a housing project of their own in Middletown.
About 100 people gathered on Monday for a groundbreaking ceremony for the 16-unit complex for the elderly who are hearing impaired, a facility Middletown officials say is the first of its kind in the state and one of only a few in the country. The nearest housing for the hearing impaired is in Danvers, Mass.
The crowd included deaf people, advocates for the hearing impaired, city officials and others. Construction is expected to be completed in less than a year.
Bessie Diot, 77, who lives alone in Meriden and has applied to move in at the new housing complex, said she has visited similar places in Ohio and Massachusetts, but wants to stay in Connecticut.
"Community is so important," she said through an interpreter. "Socialization is so important. I need human contact."
Fern Reisinger, education director at the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford who was involved in efforts to find money for the project, said the new complex will be a boon for elderly people who are deaf.
"This has been a long time in coming and is a great step in the direction of providing very much needed services for an aging population," she said in a statement. "Deaf seniors will finally be able to receive services provided by people who understand their needs in an environment that's comfortable and accessible."
The complex will be called Salvatore L. Monarca Place, named after a past comissioner of the Middletown Housing Authority who served for more than 27 years and worked on the project.
The three-story building, which will be financed with $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and $600,000 from the housing authority, will be designed with special lighting and equipment such as paging devices from the entryway to the rooms, vibrating alarm systems and computer teletype technology.
Strobe lighting will alert residents to smoke or fire.
Even the color of the walls and windows that eliminate glare make a difference by creating a contrast that allows people to better understand sign language, said Thomas P. Arcari, the architect involved in the building's design.
The housing, which will include one- and two-bedroom apartments, will be for independent living.
A plan has not yet been drawn up to select residents seeking an apartment, or to set a minimum age, Vasiliou said. A lottery is possible to handle a crush of applicants.
Building housing for the deaf in Connecticut was decades in the making. Larry Marino, whose late brother and two sisters were hearing impaired, approached the Middletown Housing Authority with the idea.
"I've been working 40 years trying to get this facility," said Marino, 96. "Now my dream has come true."
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- For a fortunate few, the isolation that comes with deafness and is sharpened by old age could be eased with a housing project of their own in Middletown.
About 100 people gathered on Monday for a groundbreaking ceremony for the 16-unit complex for the elderly who are hearing impaired, a facility Middletown officials say is the first of its kind in the state and one of only a few in the country. The nearest housing for the hearing impaired is in Danvers, Mass.
The crowd included deaf people, advocates for the hearing impaired, city officials and others. Construction is expected to be completed in less than a year.
Bessie Diot, 77, who lives alone in Meriden and has applied to move in at the new housing complex, said she has visited similar places in Ohio and Massachusetts, but wants to stay in Connecticut.
"Community is so important," she said through an interpreter. "Socialization is so important. I need human contact."
Fern Reisinger, education director at the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford who was involved in efforts to find money for the project, said the new complex will be a boon for elderly people who are deaf.
"This has been a long time in coming and is a great step in the direction of providing very much needed services for an aging population," she said in a statement. "Deaf seniors will finally be able to receive services provided by people who understand their needs in an environment that's comfortable and accessible."
The complex will be called Salvatore L. Monarca Place, named after a past comissioner of the Middletown Housing Authority who served for more than 27 years and worked on the project.
The three-story building, which will be financed with $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and $600,000 from the housing authority, will be designed with special lighting and equipment such as paging devices from the entryway to the rooms, vibrating alarm systems and computer teletype technology.
Strobe lighting will alert residents to smoke or fire.
Even the color of the walls and windows that eliminate glare make a difference by creating a contrast that allows people to better understand sign language, said Thomas P. Arcari, the architect involved in the building's design.
The housing, which will include one- and two-bedroom apartments, will be for independent living.
A plan has not yet been drawn up to select residents seeking an apartment, or to set a minimum age, Vasiliou said. A lottery is possible to handle a crush of applicants.
Building housing for the deaf in Connecticut was decades in the making. Larry Marino, whose late brother and two sisters were hearing impaired, approached the Middletown Housing Authority with the idea.
"I've been working 40 years trying to get this facility," said Marino, 96. "Now my dream has come true."