Creative Living, Inc.

Creative Living's goals:

We hope to provide each resident with the following:

- One person, called a Resident Assistant, on duty 24 hours a day for incidentals and emergencies who can be reached by an intercom from each apartment.
- An accessible, unfurnished apartment near The Ohio State University campus.
- An opportunity to reach educational or vocational goals
- A supportive community where neighbors share similar challenges.

At the heart of our mission, and the reason why each resident at Creative Living is able to live independently, is the Resident Assistance Program. Each apartment unit is equipped with two intercom system “call pads” that connect directly to the lobby, where a Resident Assistant is on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Upon hire, each resident assistant is provided approximately 15 hours of training which includes CPR certification. Nearly 90% of our resident assistants are full-time students at OSU who work part-time with us. As a Resident Assistant, their primary purpose is to respond to a resident’s non-medical needs – whether to remove a jacket, reach a book on a bookshelf, help transfer from bed to wheelchair or assist with meal preparation. Such assistance provides the residents with piece of mind and increases their quality of life while offering them stability in the form of on-demand care and support.

Creative Living residents share the commitment and desire to build a self-sufficient, productive life. While Creative Living provides the essential program and tools that empowers each resident to live independently, each resident is responsible for managing their own personal care and finances. Creative Living, being a HUD Subsidized, Section 8, property, has several requirements that each potential tenant must meet before qualifying to become a resident. Each individual must have a low or very low income, be at least 18 years old, and be permanently disabled. Preference is given to those individuals who are able to manage their own care, live independently and are pursuing educational or career goals. The continued success of Creative Living requires maintaining high quality facilities and consistency in programming and support services. Financial and in-kind support from individuals, corporations, foundations, and service organizations is vitally important.

Looking forward, Creative Living is committed to our mission; empowering physically disabled individuals to live fully, independently, and productively by providing safe, affordable and accessible housing. We are incredibly proud of the 150+ former residents who have called Creative Living home. Having relocated all around the country, they have gone on to purchase homes; working as teachers, physicians, and engineers, just to name a few.

Creative Living provides residents with a supportive sense of community. All residents share the commitment to build a self-sufficient, productive life which fulfills the potential of each individual. Our location, adjacent to The Ohio State University campus, offers unique advantages: proximity to a major source of formal education, opportunity for educational and vocational counseling services, as well as access to a large medical complex, including Dodd Hall, OSU’s physical rehabilitation center. Transportation to and from OSU, Columbus State Community College and other areas of Columbus is readily available.

We are proud of the 150 former residents who have called Creative Living home. Having relocated all around the country, they have gone on to marry, purchase homes, and work as teachers, physicians, and engineers, just to name a few.