BRENDAN'S STORY
Brendan O’Keefe’s is a cross between Superman and the Energizer Bunny – he has a will of steel and he just doesn’t quit. Life changes around him, and he adapts to the circumstances, always looking for an opportunity to make his way in the world.

Brendan’s relationship with us begin in the late 1980’s when his school, Krebs Hall, merged with Cotting School. Ten years later he graduated and when Cotting opened its HOPE House on February 14, 2000, he and a classmate were the first to move in.

At HOPE House, Brendan learned the life skills he would need to transition to independent living. For two and a half years, Brendan developed social, vocational, financial, cooking, self-care, and other independent living skills. Looking back on his experience, Brendan lists some of the specific things he learned at HOPE House. “I learned how to make my bed and how to do laundry. They helped me with my checkbook and taught me how to use (the account management software) Quicken. I learned how to go to the bank and I have an ATM card.”

“HOPE House launched Brendan,” added Pat O’Keefe, Brendan’s father. “When he moved into HOPE House, he was physically out from under our thumb. It was like a graduate school for independent living! The experience really built up his confidence.”

When the time came for Brendan to leave HOPE House, he first lived with a roommate and received daily support from a personal care assistant (PCA). But Brendan had other goals in mind: “When I left HOPEhouse, I wanted to live by myself.” Knowing Brendan, it really should come as no surprise that he is doing just that. He now lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment and works at a nearby hotel doing, “a little bit of everything.” With each residential move, HOPEhouse staff visited his apartment and assessed what he would need to get through the day. “They set him up. They labeled everything!” remarked his father.

Looking around her son’s living room, Brendan’s mother Patti recalls his early childhood. “When we first realized the severity (of his disabilities), the doctor said he wouldn’t be able to ride a two-wheeler or ice skate. Well, he rode a bike in kindergarten and was playing hockey by age 7 or 8. Brendan has gone so far beyond what we ever hoped for him. We set reasonable goals. He always exceeded them.”

What’s next for Brendan? He wants to go to school, so he doesn’t lose what he learned at Cotting. He pays a tutor to work with him on reading and math. And, of course, he says with a grin, “I want a bigger place.”