Today I took a tour around Aegis. There are about 70 residents in the institute. The whole institute is designed to recreate the environment of their childhood.
There are paintings everywhere, a bus stop and clothes line outside,
baby dolls in cribs, and life skill stations with clothes. Sometimes,
the residents may put on the clothes to relive memories. Aegis is divided into two sections: Assistant Living and Life's Neighborhood. The difference between Assistant Living and Life's Neighborhood is that in Life's Neighborhood, the conditions are more severe. There cannot be any more than 20 residents in Life's Neighborhood because if there are too many people, it can cause unacceptable behavior and no relaxation. Since Life's Neighborhood is separated from Assistant Living, there is a code to get out of Life's Neighborhood so the residents in Life's Neighborhood won't go into Assistant Living. The doors that separates Life's Neighborhood and Assistant Living are painted to trick the residents into thinking it's not a door so they won't try to escape.
Learning about how the institute was designed to relive the resident's childhood got me interested. I am scared about how the residents will react to a volunteer being there with them, but I am excited to get started and help them out. The next step is helping them out with Happy Hour, which is an activity they do every Friday.
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