Associate Cynthia Del Rossi, LEED AP, Celebrates 25 Years With Thriven Design

Please join us in congratulating Associate Cynthia Del Rossi, LEED AP, on an incredible milestone of 25 years with Thriven Design. Cyndi has been instrumental in growing and shaping the Supportive Housing Studio at Thriven Design over the course of her career, bringing a true passion for creating a welcoming place to call home for individuals with any combination of special physical, mental, and/or emotional needs. Her observant, thoughtful, and detailed approach to design has positively impacted hundreds of residents. We are thankful for Cyndi’s talent and leadership, and are honored to call her our colleague.

In honor of this 25th anniversary milestone, please enjoy a special interview with Cyndi in which she shares insight into her career journey at Thriven Design:

Reflecting on your career, what has been the most rewarding aspect of working on supportive housing projects at Thriven Design?

PEOPLE.

While there are many rewarding aspects of being involved with supportive housing projects at Thriven Design over my tenure, I without a doubt feel the most rewarding aspect of my job is the PEOPLE. I have had, and continue to have, the honor of working side by side with some of the most dedicated and talented professionals. Together we have holistically designed homes (not just buildings – HOMES) that meet the specific and unique needs of the residents across the vast spectrum of supportive housing. Those homes came about because of the passionate mission driven supportive housing developers, service providers, and parents/caregivers. Their tenacity and perseverance to overcome the hurdles that often come with developing supportive housing is unwavering.

But the true reward of working on supportive housing is the RESIDENTS. There truly is nothing that compares to the feeling when you see someone living on the street who now has an apartment to call home, or an individual with mental/intellectual disabilities living alone in an institution who is now able to be a part of a family and their community.

How has Thriven Design’s approach to supportive housing evolved over the past 25 years, and what role have you played in driving those changes?

When I first began working at Thriven Design, which was Kitchen & Associates at that time, we had completed a handful of supportive housing projects. It wasn’t until my second or third year with the firm that we started to see a significant increase in the number of supportive housing projects as the supportive housing market started to flourish.

There were a few reasons for the sudden shift.

First, in 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in a case often referred to as Olmstead, which protects a person with a disability from being institutionalized. New Jersey and other states across the county had to adopt Olmstead plans to de-institutionalize and re-integrate those living with disabilities into the community.

Second, projects were awarded bonus points if a certain percentage of the total units were designated as supportive housing. New Jersey implemented the Supportive Housing Trust Fund thanks to Senator Sweeney. It was the first true funding source to be used solely for 100% supportive housing projects. As well as COAH awarded municipalities two credits for every one unit of supportive housing.

Third, while much of the attention given to supportive housing stemmed from Olmstead, as I mentioned earlier, it was also due to parent advocate groups and other organizations bringing to light the lack of quality housing for not just IMD/IDD populations but also for veterans, battered women, youth aging out of foster care, chronically homeless individuals, LGBQT+, and so many more.

When I first started in the field, if someone mentioned supportive housing, it was often considered a synonym for handicap accessibility. Now it is known that they are not synonyms. Supportive Housing applies to a broad spectrum of individuals with any combination of physical, mental and/or emotional impairments.

One home does not fit all.

As designers and architects, we must take the time to ask the right questions and follow through with the design features from the beginning to end. We need to remember to design supportive housing from a people-centered design approach more than ever. The built environment can have just as much of an impact as the supportive services the residents receive.

This is how I approach every project I have worked on over the years. My approach includes the understanding of not only how to design and construct a building, but of the struggles, challenges, habits and mindsets of the specific population for whom I am designing the home for.

Without sounding cliché, you truly need to put yourself in their shoes and draw from personal experiences when possible.

In addition to meeting with the service providers, I also request time with the maintenance staff of each organization. To truly design a building that functions for the residents, as designers, we also need to understand how those residents use and abuse those buildings.

For instance, it does no good to specify certain finish floor materials that ultimately need to be replaced six months later; or must replace drywall routinely when a simple change in type of drywall or material can extend the life of the space and possibly even discourage the resident’s behavior causing the damage.

By approaching supportive housing in this manner, we were able to establish ourselves as one of the best supportive housing architects in the State.

What is one project or moment that stands out as a true representation of our social mission in action?

I recall there was a point where our design approach started to shift. We approached the first few supportive housing projects no differently than a senior or affordable housing project. The unit layouts and building programing amongst the various housing niches were similar with exception of the total accessible units – all supportive housing units were fully accessible.

The moment when it shifted was when we began developing a group home prototype. This was the first time I felt we truly approached the building design in a different manner – one that truly reflected our social mission.

Traditionally, a group home is a set number of bedrooms in a setting like a single-family home. This group home was unique in that it was comprised of four individual apartments with a centrally located community gathering space. Taking the information I had gathered at a kick-off meeting regarding the future residents’ needs, we incorporated unique and specific design details into the home.

One specific detail was a “kill” switch located behind the range in each apartment kitchenette. The reasoning behind those “kill” switches was some residents might have the ability to cook a simple meal for themselves, while others may not have the cognitive ability to remember to turn off the cooktop or oven or utilize the oven to warm other things besides food. With this one design feature, the supportive service provider now had the ability to permit the residents to utilize certain features in their residence based on their skillsets and cognitive functioning.

Numerous other details and design elements were developed for this project as well.  Together they enabled the built environment to respond to the end user and improve the user’s ability to live with dignity and independence.

Our mission as a design firm has always been to create spaces where people and communities thrive. We believe good design can change the way that people live and work for the better. Supportive housing is no different.

My mindset has always been to approach supportive housing as a model for community living that advocates the development of safe, permanent, affordable housing. I approach each project by incorporating a strong analytical and technical base with a sensitivity to the needs of the target population to develop a design that supports a dignified, independent lifestyle to the greatest extent possible through the creation of a home.

Looking ahead, what advice or vision do you have for the next generation of Thriven Design professionals working in supportive housing?

I would tell the next generation of Thriven supportive housing professionals to: be open to new ideas; to observe the world around them and take notice of the details; think of your clients like friends and family; and be patient and compassionate.

Be Open to New Ideas: Supportive housing covers such a wide array of individuals facing personal challenges both physical and mental. One size does not fit all. Just because a design worked well for a specific population last time, does not mean the same approach may work this time. Residents for one group may be higher functioning than the other, or the individuals may be struggling with multiple diagnoses; as such, you need to be open to new ideas, new approaches, and new technologies that can be integrated into the design and programming of each project.

Observe the World Around You and Take Note of Details: Be observant in your day-to-day activities since you may notice a small detail that could be tweaked slightly to positively impact a design for a certain population or project.

Take the time at the beginning of the project to truly understand the programmatic needs of your client and the future residents. For instance, while visiting family in the hospital, I noticed there were small windows with built-in blinds near the nurse stations that enabled them to check on a patient without disruption. A similar concept could apply in the right group home setting. If there were residents who felt that they could be independent and were not quite at that point, a window could provide that sense of independence while allowing a supportive service provider to occasionally observe the resident incognito.

Think of Your Clients like Friends and Family: Supportive Housing is person centered. You should be personally invested in your projects, including your relationships with the members of the development team.

Beth Kitchen, previous Managing Principal at Kitchen & Associates, now Thriven Design, once told me, the clients and consultants you work with should be your friends – wish them a Happy Birthday or reach out when they might be sick to see how they are feeling; after a project is done, stay in touch with them like you would with a college roommate or grade-school friend.

In establishing professional friendships with your clients, you can work more holistically together and when a new opportunity comes up, they will be more willing to pick up the phone and call you, instead of another firm.

Be Patient and Compassionate: Patience and compassion are two virtues that you need.  Patience is important because you will be working with a fair amount of folks who may not be technically savvy or as well versed in the terminology that a private developer in other types of housing sectors may know. You should be capable of taking a complex idea or concept and making it relatable or figure out a way to visually explain it.

Compassion is necessary to understand what the current living conditions are for the residents and what their needs are moving forward. Think of what it may be like for the homeless individuals living on the street – their habits and routines, when designing their new apartment. By incorporating those habits and routines into the design, you can ease their transition mentally and physically through the built environment and aid in their ability to thrive.