Independence has a special meaning for the people with disabilities served by the Zimmerman-Horowitz Independent Living Program.

For a population once warehoused or shut off from the world, it means living on their own to some degree, making their own choices, receiving encouragement to master new skills --- all of this tailored to each individual's limitations, aptitudes and likes and dislikes.

"Our clients are some of the bravest people I've ever known," said Paul Pieper, coordinator of client services. "They confront what seem like insurmountable obstacles day after day. Yet they keep trying and remain cheerful in the process."

The program, begun in 1994 as an arm of Atlanta Jewish Family and Career Services, took its name in honor of an endowment set up in 1998 by an Atlanta couple, Gerald and Pearlann Horowitz. (The Zimmerman in the organization's name refers to Ben Zimmerman, Gerald Horowitz's stepfather.)

"I really appreciate the financial support our backers give us," said Pieper, referring both to donors and fund-raising events like an Arts for Independence benefit on Sunday. "This is an organization where the paid staff doesn't have to go out washing cars to keep the program solvent."

"Our annual Arts for Independence events are a help in more ways than one," said Lisa Morgan, the program's director. "Last year we raised $20,000, but just as important, we also raise awareness of what we're doing and, as a consequence, are generating more interest in contributing."

The program manages a dozen "24-7" sites across metro Atlanta, mostly in close-in suburbs from Stone Mountain to Marietta. "In line with our philosophy of inclusion, our sites tend to blend into the neighborhood," Pieper said.

Each site is a private home or apartment, usually housing three clients, and is staffed around the clock by a house manager and aides. The organization also is in charge of 14 other sites with part-time staffing for clients with mild developmental disabilities. Sixty people serve on the staff, 18 of them full-time.

"Over the last 12 years, we've served about 100 people with developmental disabilities, and some of them have stayed with us the entire time," Morgan said.

"We don't have a goal of graduating our clients from our program. Those with profound disabilities need our help throughout their lives. But some who have lesser disabilities can live on their own with a minimum of help from us --- say, meeting with a counselor a couple of hours a week to make certain that everything's OK."

One emerging realization is how the needs of the developmentally disabled change as they age, Morgan said. "Back when people with developmental disabilities were institutionalized, their quality of life wasn't as good, and they didn't live as long as they do now."

"The people we serve tend to age quickly. I can't point to statistics, only observation. They tend to develop arthritis and diabetes at an earlier age than is usual in the larger population. There also seems to be a link between Down syndrome and the incidence of Alzheimer's," she said.

While the program remains a part of the Jewish Family and Career Services, it is nonsectarian in its operation, Morgan said. "About half the population we serve is Jewish, and half isn't. We don't have a formal waiting list, but there are many in Georgia in need of our services. We could do more if we were able to offer more in subsidies to our clients' families. Our subsidies run from a couple of hundred dollars a month to a couple of thousand, depending on need.

"Most of our funding comes from a federal and state Medicaid waiver program. Last year's budget was $1.6 million, most of which went for staff. For example, it costs us about $4,000 a month to staff just one of our full-time sites 'round the clock," she said.

One such site is a spacious unit in the Williamsburg Apartments in northern DeKalb County. "Usually we have three clients here, but currently there are just two women," said house manager Philippa Johnson.

One of them, Laura Owen, 29, has been in the program for four years. "I really appreciate my independence," she said, "and I think I have a better relationship with my parents now that I'm on my own."

Asked about her private goals, Owen immediately replied, "Holding on to a job." In that regard, she's done well. For the past four years, she has worked an average of 28 hours a week as an Emory University groundskeeper. She takes pride in tending the flower beds on the west and south ends of the campus.

On the home front, she works at awakening on her own and leaving for work on time, widening her repertoire as a meal preparer and keeping her room straight. The latter is no simple task considering that she keeps a small menagerie there: a miniature dachshund and some fish, plus three turtles and two lizards she found in a nearby creek bed.

At another site, a large ranch home on Hugh Howell Road in east DeKalb, house manager Connie Sprossel looks after three clients.

One of them, Jesse Zanca, 37, feels as if he has his life back, said Sprossel. "He was in a nursing home before he came here. He had suffered a stroke, I was told, and just lay in bed, not speaking a word.

"Now he can talk. He's up and around. He plays his music, and he dances all the time," she said. He also enjoys his computer, writing e-mails to his mother and playing games.

Zanca attends a vocational training program called Choice, located in Decatur. His goals are cooking a meal once a week, washing and folding his laundry, and getting more exercise. "Jesse gets a lot of that just dancing," Sprossel said.

Another client, Dina Lewin, 60, is the daughter of Holocaust survivors, both of whom are deceased. She was born in Germany herself and immigrated to the United States when she was 5 years old.

Lewin works part-time with Hands for Hire, a vocational training workshop in Tucker. Her personal goals are to prepare dinner once a week. regularly clear off the dining table after meals and help clean the dishes.

Another challenge for her is to suppress the urge to ask personal questions. She's still working to master that, having asked this reporter whether the Journal-Constitution was paying me a satisfactory fee to write this article. (My answer was in the affirmative.)

IF YOU GO
> WHAT: The fifth annual Arts for Independence benefit displaying works by 70 artists. This art sale raises supplementary funds for the Zimmerman-Horowitz Independent Living Program, which teaches developmentally challenged adults skills that enable them to live on their own.
> WHEN: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
> WHERE: The Marcus Institute, 1920 Briarcliff Road N.E., Atlanta
> WORTH NOTING: Tickets are $10 apiece, $18 for two. Admission is free for those under 18. For more information, call 770-677-9303 or go www.artsforindependence.org.