Related Images
MATT GARFIELD - matt.garfield@newsobserver.com
Learning Services operates a 12-bed facility in Raleigh for people with traumatic brain injuries. A proposal for expansion has neighbors worried.
Learning Services operates a 12-bed facility in Raleigh for people with traumatic brain injuries. A proposal for expansion has neighbors worried.
RALEIGH Four residents sat at the kitchen table, playing board games like Monopoly and Guess Who.
A group in the living room watched Will Smith ham it up in reruns of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" on a big-screen TV.
Laughter filled the room on a recent morning at River Ridge House, where residents share meals, work in the yard and go on shopping trips like a big family.
The difference is that all arrived here after traumatic brain injuries that left them unable to function on their own.
Since 2004, Learning Services has kept a low profile at its 12-bed home off New Bern Avenue. Residents get help from trained staff members as they recover from car accidents, falls, on-the-job injuries and other catastrophic events.
Now, a proposed expansion has stirred tension with neighbors, prompting emotional meetings last week that devolved into shouting and tearful pleas.
The company wants to build five additional homes on its property, which would allow for as many as 36 new residents.
A city planning committee supported the rezoning last week. The City Council takes a final vote next month.
Neighbors upset
Some neighbors say the project amounts to building a health care campus on a residential street. They worry about patients roaming the neighborhood.
Lolita Stevenson said she would install fences and security cameras at her house.
"You are definitely going to be changing the lifestyle we have grown accustomed to," she said.
For David Carter, the conflict is personal and unexpected. Carter oversees the home as head of Learning Services, a private, for-profit company that runs nine sites in six states.
People with brain injuries are often misperceived as alcoholics, drug addicts or mentally ill.
Under its license with the state, Learning Services cannot accept patients considered dangerous to themselves or others.
Police have been called to the home nine times since 2004 for incidents ranging from an animal bite to a staff person reporting a car break-in, records show. No violent incidents were reported.
"It's not hard to make friends once people are aware of the work we're doing," Carter said on a tour of the house last week. "Once their fears and questions are addressed, they open their arms."
Residents greeted a visitor with handshakes and friendly jokes. Some moved around in wheelchairs, while others walked with limps and unsteady strides through the airy ranch-style house.
A man in his 40s named Jeff proudly announced, twice in a matter of minutes, that one of his two daughters had enrolled in nursing school. The news was true, staff members said.
Meeting a need
The home fills a critical gap in the state health care system, say Carter and his team of rehab specialists.
North Carolina ranks near the bottom for care of people with brain injuries, providing $2.3 million in recurring funds to meet the needs of more than 180,000 patients, according to the N.C. Brain Injury Association.
"Every day, we receive calls from families who are desperate to receive appropriate care for their loved ones," said president Sandra Farmer.
Residents at Learning Services typically pay with workers' compensation, insurance and structured financial settlements.
Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan add a new source of clients. Their injuries would have left them dead on the battlefield in any previous war, experts say.
Now, they are coming home and showcasing advances in the emergency treatment of head trauma. The recovery of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from gunshot wounds brought even more attention.
"For some of us, it's been like, 'Holy cow, thank you for noticing us after all these years," said Mike Weaver, chief operating officer for Learning Services.
Non-hospital look
Rather than living in isolation in nursing homes and mental health institutions, patients show much better results in small group settings, doctors say.
"Our goal is to make the home environment as real as possible," said Dr. Patrick O'Brien, medical services director at WakeMed. "We try not to make it look like a hospital.
At River Ridge House, residents pile into a van and go to Durham Bulls games. They shop at a nearby Food Lion and work out at the YMCA. Recently, the group attended a concert by .38 Special, a classic rock band.
Some will move out after five to six months. Others have stayed since the beginning.
"They look forward to the concert seasons," said Toby Prenoveau, regional program manager. "They go to the library. It's part of their quality of life. They want to be part of the community."
