On Friday, October 17, Park Ridge Rotary club members welcomed to The Courtyard guest speaker Michael Lubetkin, President and CEO of Spectrum for Living.
 
 
Since being founded by parents of 5 disabled children in 1978, Spectrum has been helping adults with developmental disabilities attain their maximum potential by providing quality housing and clinical services in state-of-the-art facilities.
 
In 1983, the first Spectrum site opened its doors in Closter, NJ housing 48 persons in an Intermediate Care Facility. Today, Spectrum for Living serves nearly 800 people at 29 sites in three New Jersey counties. In addition to the Intermediate Care Facility, group homes, supervised apartments, and a network of adult training centers offer educational and recreational opportunities in safe, secure and fully accessible environments.
 
Services provided to clients of Spectrum are supported by a staff of 650 individuals and an operating budget of about $34 million. The cost to support one individual in a Spectrum residence averages between $70,000 and $100,000 per year.
 
The mission of Spectrum for Living is highly ambitious: to enable individuals who have developmental and physical disabilities to have the opportunity to attain their highest level of skills, purpose, and independence with dignity through Spectrum’s ongoing commitment to comprehensive quality services, advocacy, and family partnership. Nonetheless, the 501c3 non-profit has been highly successful over the years and today has a waiting list of 8000.
 
In order to grow and continue to provide the unique services Spectrum offers, Spectrum continually relies on funding from individuals, community organizations, corporations and foundations as well as government funding. To learn more about this much needed and widely respected organization, visit http://www.spectrumforliving.org