IONIA — A small sign proclaiming “Beware the witch is in” hangs above the doorway to Julie Andrew’s small cluttered office at the top of the stairs in “The House.” The sign not only reflects Andrew’s sense of humor, but it’s also a testament to her no-nonsense approach to telling it like it is.
Daisy Cook, the Transition services supervisor for the Ionia County Intermediate School District, and Julie Andrews, who started the Transition Independent Living Center on E. Main Street in 1991, stand outside “The House.” Andrews retired Dec. 20 after 34 years with the ISD. — DN Photo | Karen Bota
“We have frank conversations because we care,” Andrews said.
Andrews has worked in special education for the Ionia County Intermediate School District for 34 years. Twenty-eight of those have been at The House, otherwise known as the Transition Independent Living Center, on E. Main Street, which she and then-colleague Mark Mahar opened on Jan. 28, 1991.
This month, Andrews is hanging up her broomstick and retiring. Her last day on the job was Dec. 20.
When it opened, The House was one of only four sites in the state teaching independent living skills to young adults who had received special education services when they were in school. The ISD purchased the building, furnished it and turned Andrews and Mahar loose to develop a program. There was “no magic formula,” Andrews admitted.
“When we started, we were stupid. He was 30, I was 33,” she recalled. “We just had expectations for the students, and we listened to the students.”
The House’s program is functionally based, meaning the students develop practical skills in home living, community living, vocational programming and recreation and leisure by using the facility and the community as their learning ground. Students plan a meal and shop for groceries, do laundry, weed and mow the yard, mail a letter at the post office, create a simple budget, work or volunteer in a setting that fits their abilities, bowl and go to the movies. The staff helps them practice and problem solve.
“It’s literally life. We do it with them, but it’s theirs,” said Andrews.
Students replace light bulbs, fix the internal workings of a toilet that breaks, and change door locks because someone lost a key, said Daisy Cook, the Transition services supervisor.
“Those are just things that are going to occur in life, and so let’s work on it together,” Cook said. “It’s allowing some of those natural consequences to occur in a safe, controlled setting.”
Andrews has taught parents to sit on their hands sometimes and let their child fail — and also succeed. Parents have seen their young adult children do things they didn’t think was possible because the parents always did it for them.
“We’re not always liked because we have to have those conversations about what’s going to be next because there is nothing after us,” Andrews said. “You’re not always going to be there, and how do you want your child cared for when you’re gone?”
Julie Andrews stands in the doorway of her office at “The House,” the Ionia County Intermediate School District’s Transition Independent Living Center. Andrews started the program in January of 1991 and retired on Dec. 20 this year. — DN Photo | Karen Bota
In 1999, The House was rated one of “the most promising programs in the country by the National Transition Alliance for Youth with Disabilities. Soon people were calling Andrews from Texas and states beyond, telling her they didn’t have anything like her program in their state.
“It blew my mind. What we do in the transition area, we’ve always been steps ahead,” she said. “It was like holding on to a runaway train. (The students) grew in places we never, ever would have expected them to. (Now) we keep our expectations very high because we have had very few students, if any, who haven’t made really good progress in some area.”
As word got around, the students kept coming. Some of them were higher functioning and needed less staff support, but The House was all there was at the time.
Ten years later, the ISD opened Transition Central in 2001, where students who can drive, work, live independently or be competitively employed can receive services. Cook was put in charge of that program. The Stepping Forward program followed.
Andrews said she is proudest of the fact that The House is still in operation, and that the ISD administrations and boards along the way saw value in the program and added more Transition services.
“Because it wasn’t easy to add more. It’s expensive, but they saw that this worked. It’s still here and it’s still making a difference,” Andrews said. “We built it and they keep coming, and we’re impacting a lot more families than we would have if it was just us.”
Cook said the Transition programs continue to be well supported by the ISD administration, which is not true in every school district, and that also has been key to their success.
“(The administration has) allowed us to learn and grow and make mistakes and followed along with us, and we’re incredibly thankful for them,” said Cook.
“I can’t imagine having worked at any place better,” Andrews added.
Students and their families weren’t the only ones impacted by Andrews over the years. Staff members also benefited from her mentoring, including Cook.
“She definitely mentored me — she was here first — and I was a new young teacher, so she had her work cut out for her,” Cook said, becoming emotional. “She had that impact on so many, that whole ripple effect that keeps going out further.”
Ionia County Intermediate School District Superintendent Ethan Eberstein agreed with Cook.
“Julie has made a tremendous impact on countless people during her years with the Ionia County ISD. Both staff and students alike for over three decades have benefited from her heart and compassion, her sense of humor and her unconditional love,” said. “Her accomplishments are many, and her legacy will continue on through the people she has interacted with.”
Andrews said she will miss the students and staff. She’s made friends with parents as she worked with their children, in spite of — or maybe because of — the difficult conversations. She’ll probably stay in contact with them because her years with The House have made it “home” and they are part of that, she said.
“It’s my fourth ‘kid,’” she said. “I have three boys, and (The House) is my fourth one, because we started it from the beginning,” she said.
On this day, a student is practicing writing her first name. She successfully makes the H, and the students around her applaud. Andrews is going to miss this, too.
“To watch the kids, the smiles on their faces because they did something,” she said. “They deserve that.”
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