When Avi Polin became the proud renter of his own apartment in Staten Island this past December, it was the first time the Jewish Union Foundation assisted with a single living space subsidized by New York State’s Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD).
The Monsey native had moved to Staten Island to live with his sister and her family, but as a working professional in his early 30’s, Avi longed for a place of his own. Plus, working for a photography studio means he doesn’t work a standard 9-5 shift, and Avi felt badly if he woke anyone up upon his return home.
“Avi is very self-sufficient,” described Shira Cohen, JUF’s Medicaid service coordinator who works with Avi to allocate the funding he qualifies for through OPWDD. And while OPWDD has different categories for housing options, Avi qualified to live on his own with his government subsidies paying the bulk of his rent and utilities.
Avi has been involved with Yachad programming for most of his life — participating in Shabbatonim, summer programs and the like. Avi’s sister Leah Commer and her husband Josh found the apartment, located about a ten-minute walk from their home, and the JUF staff assisted with the paperwork.
These days Avi has a selection of basic dishes he is able to prepare for himself, ranging from pasta to fish. Learning to cook was an adjustment. Shortly after moving in to the apartment, Avi arrived home hungry from a photography job at 2 a.m., and decided to make himself a grilled cheese sandwich. The novice cook burned the bread, setting off the fire alarm. “I opened the windows, I opened the doors, I waved a towel to help the smoke go out but I couldn’t figure out how to turn the alarm off,” he said. Woken by the noise, his landlord came to help. “I got so scared, I thought I was going to burn the house down,” Avi admitted. “But my landlord is very nice and he understood my circumstances. He showed me what to do if this happens again.”
“Avi fit right in to private living,” shared his landlords Leonard and Karen Mandel. “We’re on very friendly terms — he’s a regular tenant. He talks to us when he sees us, he’s concerned that he’s doing everything right and taking care of the place properly. It’s been easy and pleasant dealing with him.”
Avi’s apartment is perfect for his needs, with two bedrooms, a living room, and kitchen. “I love the privacy and space,” he says with a smile. Priding himself on his organization, every Friday he cleans before Shabbat — making sure to take out the trash, wash the dishes, vacuum the carpets and clean the bathroom. He sends his laundry out to a laundromat, using a dry cleaning service when necessary.
“Saving money and paying bills is definitely a challenge,” Avi notes. “Food is expensive! Sometimes it’s hard, and I work with my brother-in-law on my goals; like putting money away in the bank so I can save for the future.”
Avi joins his sister and her family for many Shabbat meals. He knows some locals at the Young Israel of Staten Island from camp as a youth and from various interactions within the community. On Shabbat afternoons he can often be found walking with his 9-year-old niece Rebecca Commer to visit the pet dog of a local family, since both of them love animals. When he has free time, Avi calls his friend, Chaim Tzvi, to spend time together — going out for breakfast, shopping, or to the movies. “Sometimes it does get lonely for me since many of my friends are away in Monsey and most of my friends here are married with kids, so they aren’t able to hang out with me very often,” he said.
“I’m happy when I can host people at my apartment for Yachad Shabbatonim and I still try to make an effort to be part of Yachad programs when I can. When Nicole Bodner and Michael Adler [New York Yachad staff] call me, it makes me feel very good.”
This article is from the 2015 issue of Belong Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy please email belong@ou.org.