Starting July 1, Independence Association will be operating from a new home in Brunswick that includes more space, outdoor recreational facilities and a fitness center. 

The organization, which serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is moving from its current location on Lewiston Road in Topsham to 3 Industrial Parkway. The new building has got significant advantages for Independence Association`s clients, especially as more people with disabilities live longer lives. 

The average lifespan of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities has increased by more than three decades over the last 50 years, said Carlene Byron, Independence Association Development and Communications Manager.  That makes health and wellness newly important for this group as they are growing older.  

Having an onsite fitness center in Brunswick will make it easier for staff to partner with clients for routine daily exercise activity. 

“Our hope is that not just the clients under gym supervision will exercise there. We want to see our staff there, too. It is good not only for the staff, it is role models to the clients,” said Byron. 

The 3 Industrial Parkway building is fully accessible and includes a large meeting room, rooms for craft supplies and sewing machines, bathrooms, and a kitchen for cooking classes. The new location also has an open, grassy outdoor activity space and a blacktop area for basketball. 

The fitness equipment is similar to what you see elsewhere, said Byron. Jimmy Franklin, Independence Association`s Health and Care Coordinator, helped to modify the design of the fitness center to address some special needs of population. 

“This equipment is not designed specifically for people with disabilities,” said Franklin. “Our work is to help them to use the same equipment you can find in any gym in terms of being able to learn how to do appropriate exercise and use the machines properly.  

“And then they may be able to visit a gym in a community, and still be able to do things that everybody else is doing,” he added. “And a lot of our fitness and wellness activities will be in the community as well. So, an individual might spend a couple of days in our fitness center working with me but we also do things in the community utilizing hiking trails to address health and wellness.” 

Byron said a large part of Independence Association`s costs is covered by the state. However, the building  in Brunswick was acquired thanks to funds raised in this year’s Androscoggin Bank Run for Independence, and a generous grant from Brunswick’s Alfred M. Senter Fund. The equipment for the fitness center was also purchased thanks to private funding, including treadmills, ellipticals, a stationary bicycle, and several machines for body strength exercises. 

Byron said one of the most appealing aspects of the new location is the availability of outdoor, fenced space. 

“People can just go outside and do what they want to do, enjoy themselves,” she said. “We do not yet have picnic tables and other things for recreation, but that is going to be installed. We will have a basketball hoop there and a court for lawn bowling. We compete in lawn bowling in Special Olympics.” 

Many of the Independence Association clients are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, some of whom have been clients since the agency was founded in 1966. Staff and volunteers are focused helping people with disabilities achieve full and inclusive lives wherever they live.  

For instance, Earl Black weaves detailed rugs on a loom at Spindleworks, a nonprofit art center for adults with disabilities and part of the Independence Association network.  

His friendly, outgoing personality is evident as a he helps other weavers solve problems on their looms, and as he shows off a wooden bench he built that adorns the building’s porch. 

Byron said the new building on Industrial Parkway will allow the organization to provide an even higher quality of care for their clients. 

“The kind of care system which you see in the state of Maine is exceptional,” she said. “Maine and Minnesota – those states are considered to have the top systems of care for people with disabilities in the US.” 

 Franklin concurs. 

“I think it has something to do with the residents, people who live in those two states,” he said. “Maine generally has friendly people, caring people. Our folks [clients of Independence Association] are very appreciated and accepted in their communities. We are blessed to be in the community that we are.” 

To support ongoing health and wellness initiatives at Independence Association, contact Carlene Byron at 207-504-5822 or donate online at independenceassociation.org/donate. 

Evgeniia Sibirtceva is a veteran Russian journalist, working for an independent news organization in Vologda, a city of about 300,000 where she lives. A fellow with the International Center for Journalists, Sibirtceva, is in Maine for two weeks, observing how a free press operates in the U.S. 

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