(Holliswood, NY) – HeartShare’s Tamara Tunie and Gregory V. Generet Residence, which is home to six men with intellectual and developmental disabilities, hosted a celebratory dinner to commemorate the one-year anniversary of its opening in January 2013.

Prior to the opening of the Tunie-Generet Residence, the six men, diagnosed with mild to severe disabilities, lived at the state-run Bernard M. Fineson Developmental Center in Queens Village. Within the past year, the residents learned to live with greater independence, including outings to local parks, restaurants and shopping centers. “The culture of the Tunie-Generet Residence emphasizes community inclusion, which is strongly associated with a higher quality of life,” stated HeartShare President and CEO Bill Guarinello. The men also regularly attend HeartShare’s Frances Aiello Day Habilitation Program, which provides carefully planned day program experiences with an emphasis on community-based volunteer and work experiences.

HeartShare’s Direct Support Professionals (DSP) provide individualized 24-hour care to the six men, including skill-building inside and outside the home. “Over the past year, we have noticed such a positive change in our son. We are so grateful and at ease that our son is living in such a nurturing, healthy home, where the HeartShare staff has become his extended family,” noted the parents of one of the residents.

The residence is named for the husband and wife team of actor, producer, director, philanthropist Tamara Tunie and Jazz Vocalist and HeartShare Board Member Gregory V. Generet, who attended the dinner. “With the guidance and care of HeartShare’s staff, who are passionate about and good at what they do, I can see how much these men have thrived in one short year. I am thrilled to be a part of this experience. Getting to know these six men has changed my life,” Mr. Generet remarked.

The Tunie-Generet Residence is a part of HeartShare’s network of residential programs, which provide a continuum of services to enhance an individual’s ability to gain meaningful experiences in the community. In addition to individualized attention from HeartShare DSPs, the residence is equipped to create a safe environment, including accessible bathrooms, wall corner safety guards and CareTracker, which is a wall mounted computer system that tracks behavioral and medical data in real time for each resident.

Learn more about HeartShare’s residential programs at https://www.heartshare.org/our-programs/developmental-disabilities-services/residential-services/.