enjoying the sunshine

Enhancing the Lives of RI's Disabled Since 1986

LIFE Inc. is a private, non-profit organization devoted to providing a wide range of community-based experiences and supports to participants with developmental disabilities in Rhode Island in a non-discriminatory manner. Our staff and management team is committed to the participants they are hired to work for and are well-versed in promoting supportive environments and providing opportunities for both independence and growth. The framework of our mission and vision are clear:

Support - Choice - Empowerment

Our Mission

LIFE Inc. works to provide a person-centered supportive environment for participants with disabilities through:

• Community Participation
• Creating Personal Goals
• Developing a Positive Self-Image
• Developing Independence
• Informed Choice Making
• Life Skill Development
• Relationship Building
• Self-Advocacy

Our Vision

We are committed to being an innovative and creative leader in supported resources:

• To continue educating ourselves, our community, and those we support
• To ensure satisfaction of participants by listening and participating in open, honest communication
• To promote equality as well as quality of life through freedom of choice and self-advocacy
• To encourage growth and accept change, not only in the participants we support, but also within ourselves and our ideas

36 Years of Service

118 Participants Supported

15 Residential Programs

200+ Employees

A Rich History of Supportive Care in Rhode Island


LIFE Inc. was founded by Executive Administrator Mary Ann Wiedenhofer and Executive Director Lawrence Wiedenhofer in October of 1986 and fully opened its doors in April of 1987. When they opened, LIFE Inc. had just two programs, the Main Road Residence in Tiverton and the former Child Street Residence in Warren with only a few dozen employees. Since then, we have expanded our services to offer fifteen group home residences, in addition to retail operations, day program sites, Supportive Living Arrangements with community members and independent apartment programs and are assisted by over two-hundred dedicated employees.

Our services have expanded, but our dedication to helping participants realize and live the fulfilling and spectacular lives they want to live has not wavered. In the ever-changing world we live in, we continue to change and adapt the services we provide to best serve the participants we are honored to support, while not sacrificing the necessary care and attention necessary to make this a reality for everyone.

main road residence 1980s

Advocacy


advocates

Advocates For Our Participants

At the heart of LIFE, Inc.'s' mission is a concept we refer to as Providing a Supportive Environment. We aim to provide individualized support services implemented with the person, not for the person, therefore empowering the participants we support, respecting their status, choices, and abilities. The agency encourages, rather than dictates, everyone to make informed, healthy, life choices for themselves. We also support and celebrate each participants’ abilities on a daily basis which, in turn, promotes an environment where they can advocate for themselves. We listen and address what an participant is advocating for, making compromises when necessary.

LIFE Inc. offers additional services on an as needed basis which helps enhance the education of how to advocate for themselves effectively. These include things such as counseling services, social skills classes, “Circles” classes, sign language classes, sensory clinics, and communication clinics.

Creating Self-Advocates

The agency’s support coordinators work with an interdisciplinary team to develop self-advocacy programs specific to the participant's needs which will address various situations. For example, the support coordinator may sit down with the participant to discuss and encourage them to advocate for themselves. Support coordinators also create programs to build an participant’s self-confidence to give them the confidence to advocate for themselves and to educate themselves on how to advocate safely and effectively.

Support coordinators also meet with participants regularly, once programs are in place, to discuss how things are going with their programs, their peers, and their schedules to help promote open and honest communication. For participants who are nonverbal, support coordinators complete assessments and analyze data to determine an participant’s level of satisfaction with their programs, peers, and schedules.

self-advicates