Peer

The New York Association on Independent Living (NYAIL) has implemented the Open Doors Peer Support initiative as a component of the Money Follows the Person (MFP) demonstration, which aims to provide seniors and people with disabilities with peer support during the transition process. The Open Doors Peer Support Program is a group of people who have lived in institutional settings and then moved to home and community based settings, and who have received services and support where they live. Peer Advocates visit nursing homes and developmental centers to share their experiences with residents and support people who want to move to the community.

Open Doors - Peer Program from NYAIL on Vimeo

Peer Advocates will work with you to get control over the choices that impact your life, such as:

Whether to move at all;
Where to live;
When and what to eat;
What to wear;
To call or visit family and friends;
Places to worship;
Temperature control;
Recreation;
Privacy and security of possessions;
When to shower and/or take a bath;
Uninterrupted sleep when you want;
Roommate or the choice to not have a roommate.

All peer advocates complete formal training and are employed by Independent Living Centers.

There are enough peer advocates to provide help in all counties across the state.

Family Peer Advocates are available to work with loved ones of those who are moving.

Veteran Peer Advocates are available to work with service-connected individuals who wish to return to the community.

Training: The power of the peer comes from the breadth of their lived experience. All peers are required to complete a paid eight hour training and satisfactorily pass a post-test to assess competency. Peers will be exposed to training in the following areas:

Active listening and communication strategies
Boundary setting
Motivational interviewing and empowerment strategies
Explaining the transition process and incorporating lived experience
Discussing community living options and incorporating lived experience
Facilitating focus groups
Mandated reporting

Peers will have the opportunity to participate in ongoing education to enhance their skillsets. Feedback mechanisms are in place to allow NYAIL to develop topical trainings as needed.

Documents available for download:

Open Doors Peer Advocate Application pdf

Open Doors Peer Advocate Application word

For more information:

Katy Bell
Program Director
MFP Peer Support Program
155 Washington Ave, Suite 208
Albany, New York 12210
Phone: (518) 465-4650 ext. 106
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Success Story

A picture of a man standing holding a bicycle.

Oliver Vaughn is a man in his ‘40s living in Saratoga. One night he was out drinking and fell. As a result, he sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury causing a seizure and other health issues. Oliver was hospitalized, then transferred to Northeast Center Nursing Home where he stayed for five months. He learned about meditation and self-help, which was the beginning of his road to recovery.

Life in the nursing home was not one Oliver wanted to live. He said most of the staff were very helpful and encouraging. As his health improved there were staff who minimized his progress, essentially saying “you shouldn’t be able to be doing what you are.” He used these negative comments as motivation to get out of the nursing home and live a new life.

Oliver credits Open Doors with helping him transition from nursing home living to a full life in the community. He says the Transition Specialists and coaches with the Southern Adirondack Independent Living Center (SAIL) helped him through the culture shock of adjusting to both a new life at home and the real world. He needed to re-learn how to manage decision-making and planning out the day because of the limited activity and humanity at the nursing home. Transition Specialists were there to boost his mental health during recovery. Oliver says he has become fully independent and confident with his living situation and work choices with the support of Open Doors staff.

As a result, Oliver is working in the kitchen of Healthy Living Market and Café in Saratoga. He commutes to and from work on one of various bicycles. In addition to working full-time Oliver volunteers with Bikeatoga, a Saratoga Springs based nonprofit dedicated to making cycling more accessible and inclusive. Fixing and riding bikes is therapeutic because it makes him feel good physically while contributing to the community.

Oliver has not felt this well both physically and mentally since his twentieth birthday. He is now sober, engaged to a woman named Susan who has been by his side throughout the rebuilding of his life. The Open Doors Program provided Oliver the opportunity and resources for a fresh start where he is thriving and contributing to the community.

Open Doors – Peer Support (MFP)