News for the Disabled

Florida's State of the Art Gizmo House May Close Due to State Budget Cutbacks

Posted on Dec 01, 2008

The Gizmo House features some of the most exciting gizmos around. The designers, Crestron Electronics Inc., have worked to incorporate custom-designed technology, helping the residents live their lives as freely as possible. So who lives in Gizmo House?

Gizmo House is a group home for disabled adults in South Florida. Six people with severe developmental disabilities live in the house, an unobtrusive pink brick house in a Florida suburb. In this house residents are able to live as independently as possible.

Doors, lights, even the height of the kitchen table are controlled by a touch-screen. A rotating shelf system allows residents to access every inch of every cabinet with ease.

The house is a shining example to all other group homes. It incorporates state of the art technology into the lives of its residents, allowing them freedom they have never experienced before. So, if the Gizmo House is so successful, why might it have to close its doors?

The house is operated by the Ann Storck Center, a non-profit human service organization. The organization serves the needs of children and adults in South Florida who present severe and multiple developmental disabilities.

The house is funded in part by state and federal governments. However, as Florida undergoes severe budget cutbacks, this funding will be reduced and maybe eliminated altogether.

Jim McGuire, the center's executive director, said that the deficit for the centers five homes, to include Gizmo House, will be at least $600,000. McGuire estimates that he will need to find an additional $1.6 million to run the homes in the coming year. Nobody knows how this will be made up.

Gizmo House is not the only home or service facing an uncertain future. Florida's Agency for Persons with Disabilities said that all providers are facing budget challenges.

"They are going to have to make choices and changes, but hopefully they will survive," said Melanie Etters, an APD spokeswoman.

Residents of Gizmo House are close, helping one another when they can and forming lifelong bonds. If the house closes, they will all be split-up, moving to other homes, possibly losing their friends forever.

Linda Cothran has been living in the house since it opened over ten years ago. Though she appreciates the high tech gizmos that make her life easier, her concerns lie with her housemates.

"We're family," she said.

Hopefully this family will get to stay together, despite tough economic times.