I never had thought that Supported Living would work for Michael. I thought he was too disabled. I couldn’t be happier with the way it has worked out for him.
—Laraine, Michael’s mother
About Us: Co-Founders
Creative Living Options founders Kathleen Campbell and Joan Schmidt entered the world of developmental disabilities with the birth of their sons, Jason and Deron. Deron was diagnosed with autism and Jason also experienced a disability that made communication all but impossible. Each woman gained expertise as she mastered the challenges associated with her son’s growth and development.
Kathleen and Joan each had successful careers in addition to their paid and unpaid work in the field of developmental disabilities. Kathleen owned and administered a small business specializing in hardware and software for personal computers. She also worked successfully in real estate with Merrill Lynch Realty Coronado and Prudential California Realty.
Joan began her professional career in communications and public relations working with hotels in California and New Mexico. She later opened her own successful convention and meeting-planning business. Joan took a short hiatus from her business in 1981 to support Deron full-time. After several months, she worked as a Parent Professional for the California Deaf Blind Services. Later, the California Department of Education Special Education Division recruited her to direct a program through the California State University at Sacramento, the California Education Innovation Institute for teachers, parents and administrators. 
As Deron neared adulthood, finding a living situation for him seemed an insurmountable challenge. Alta California Regional Center officials had decreed that he would have to live in a Developmental Center, saying ‘ …his aberrant behavior will prevent him from living in the community.” Joan convinced the regional center to contract with her as a “parent vendor” and allow her to create a pilot program where Deron would rent his own home with 24-hour, seven-day support. It was the beginning of single-household vendored supported living in California. Kathleen soon set up a similar situation for Jason. Kathleen devised an arrangement where he shared a house with a close friend and a support staff person.
In addition to their extensive volunteerism, Kathleen and Joan took on professional consulting and training projects. They formed a part-time consulting and training partnership, Homelink, through which they educated families, professionals and policy makers about alternative living situations for adults with developmental disabilities. They participated in the process of creating California supported living regulations. They co-wrote in 2004 the manual on single-household Supported Living Services, published by Connections for Information and Resources on Community Living (CIRCL) and the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS). Joan also served for 15 years on the Steering Committee of the California Supported Living Network.
Opening Creative Living Options, Inc., in 2001 was a natural progression for Kathleen and Joan. Their mandate for CLO was to stay true to the ideals of supported living. “The main thing about CLO is that we were committed to replicating that person-centered approach,” Joan said. Kathi and Joan decided to focus on people who, like their sons, experienced significant challenges. A founding tenet of Creative Living Options was that there should never be a minimum threshold of skills and abilities to be eligible for Supported Living Services. They agreed strongly with Supported Living progenitor John O’Brien that people with developmental disabilities are not unique in their need for circles of support—all people depend on the support of those around them.
Just as Kathleen and Joan are committed to using Person Centered principles in planning individualized services for a person, they believe in employing PCP principles to manage CLO as an agency. As a result, CLO has grown organically to embody the kind of team building and circular rather than hierarchical management that is considered cutting-edge in the business world.
Creative Living Options currently supports 16 consumers. While the realities of state funding make some growth desirable, Kathleen and Joan continue to believe in supporting a relatively small number of people—20 to 25 at most. They feel strongly that all of the people whom CLO supports must have lifestyles as unique as they would if they were all in single-household-vendor supported living arrangements. They remain committed ambassadors for supported living, continuing to serve as mentors for the creation of single-household vendors. CLO Co-Founders Kathleen and Joan successfully have guided the agency’s evolution—it is no longer a fledgling organization but a stable, thriving agency with a life of its own. Co-founders Kathleen and Joan served as Co-CEOs until December 2007, when Kathleen moved out of state. The Board of Directors are actively seeking to grow the Board’s membership and broaden their areas of expertise. Joan is working with the directors to develop a succession plan that will enable CLO to continue to provide the highest possible quality of Supported Living Services.
