Life at SVCR

A Typical Day

Our residents lead busy, purposeful lives.

For clients in group homes, the daily routine starts with SVCR staff providing help, as needed, to get up, dress, handle personal grooming, eat breakfast, take medications if necessary, and climb aboard the van – or ride the WinTran bus – to be driven to work, school, or a volunteer program.

After work, residents are picked up and either taken to an activity, such as music therapy, or returned to the group home for a rest before starting household chores, doing exercise routines, or just relaxing with a little TV, a good book, or a board game.

Then dinner would be prepared, with staff support, by one of the housemates, and eaten family-style, followed by an activity in the community such as personal needs shopping, going for a walk in the neighborhood, water aerobics at Jim Barnett Park, or Special Olympics practice.

To end the day, clients spend the evening socializing with their peers, enjoying the use of the yard and decks in warm weather, playing games, or engaging in individual leisure-time activities in their rooms prior to bathing and preparing for bed.

Individuals in the Supervised Living Residential Program enjoy essentially the same routine, with much greater independence. The amount of supervision is considerably reduced, since staff assistance is provided only during weekday afternoons and evenings.

Activities & Outings

Residents in both kinds of living situations enjoy a wide variety of activities, including shopping, hiking, eating out, bowling, going to the movies, and attending carnivals, parades, picnics, festivals, and local and professional theatrical and sporting events. We also go to Special Olympics practice and games at the local, regional, and state levels. Several also participate in the Shenandoah University Hand Bell & Chimes choir.

We have even gone fishing, experienced spa days, painted pottery, gone on cavern tours, taken fall foliage train rides, and attended concerts.

During our out-of-town vacations, we have gone to the Smoky Mountains, Outer Banks, Virginia Beach, Pocono Mountains, Deep Creek Lake, Walton’s Mountain, Inner Harbor, Maggie Valley, Bryce Mountain, and Ocean City. We’ve also camped in tents in the Shenandoah National Park.