Clearbrook said that starts with more pay for staff, so their clients have more places to live.
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There are currently 15,000 families on a waiting list for houses like the one Chris Schaschwary now has.
His mother said Monday it took her eight years to find a home for her son.
Schaschwary got to decorate his room himself.
"I do feel like he will be taken care of when I'm no longer here," his mother said.
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Penny Schaschwary said, after her husband died, she was fearful her son, who has Down syndrome, wouldn't be fully taken care of.
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"I was doing this alone these last 10 years, and I really needed some support," she said.
That support came through Clearbrook, an organization trying to meet a desperate need for families across the state. With so many families looking for help, Clearbrook CEO Jessica Smart said it starts with hiring more staff.
"I can't open a new house and commit care to individuals if I don't have the staff to provide that care," Smart said. "It's assisting with cooking dinner, taking somebody to their job, taking somebody on a medical appointment."
But more staff won't come, Smart said, until direct support professionals are paid what they're worth. She said the state only pays them a little over minimum wage.
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"Since 2019, it's risen $0.37 over minimum wage," Smart said.
That's why she's pushing for Illinois to pass a bill currently being discussed in Springfield that increases the wages another $3. It will help those like Chris Schaschwary and his new roommate, Cody Bitto, get the chance of independence, from cooking their favorites, to guys' night out, to seeing a musical.
Their parents can now take a deep sigh of relief.
"My hope is that he just blossoms and that he'll think of this as home," Penny Schaschwary said.