‘I’m so proud’: Lifeways’ founding father reflects on the company’s 30th anniversary

The founder of Lifeways has spoken of his pride as the small social care company he started with his wife celebrates its 30th anniversary as one of the UK’s biggest providers. 

Today, Lifeways is one of the country’s biggest team of professionals providing support in the community for people with complex needs. 

But back in 1994, American couple Jerry and Susan Bereika launched the company after spotting a gap in the market for a pioneering new model called Supported Living.  

Their vision was simple - helping people leave institutions and large residential care homes into independent living with the right support wrapped around them. That ethos has guided Lifeways’ growth ever since. 

Watch Jerry's video below:

Jerry said: “Happy 30th anniversary to everyone at Lifeways! When Susan and I started the company, we had no idea it would become what it has. We’re incredibly proud of what we built and the impact Lifeways continues to make. Keep up the great work - I know you’ll continue to succeed by following the Lifeways way of delivering high quality services with passion and integrity.” 

How it all began 

Before moving to the UK from Boston, Massachusetts, Jerry worked as a Vice-President for a nationwide social services and healthcare company, while Susan was an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at University of Massachusetts Medical School where she managed their acute inpatient psychiatric wards.  

Both held PhDs in Clinical Psychology and originally moved to the UK to help launch a new social care subsidiary for a British company. But when its funding fell through, Jerry stepped in to take it over and Lifeways was born. 

“It was tough at first,” he recalled. “We were trying to introduce a model that was largely unknown in the UK at the time. We were American. We were a for-profit company at a time when that was a no-no in the UK health and social care sector.” 

Not only that, but winning trust wasn’t easy. “I think when we finally got our first referrals after knocking on many doors, the commissioners assumed we’d fail and disappear. But we didn’t. One of our core values was perseverance - we don’t give up until we find the right way to support someone.” 

Soon, it became apparent to Social Service commissioners that Lifeways was true to its word and it quickly built a reputation for working successfully with people with complex needs.  

“The referrals started coming more rapidly,” Jerry said. “We focused on the individual asking: ‘What kind of home do you want? Do you want housemates? Do you want to live near family or the shops?’ What activities do you enjoy? We then set in place a truly person-centered support plan and worked with local authorities, housing associations, and private landlords to provide the housing.” 

Lifeways’ approach of tailoring support to the individual set it apart at the time.  

Jerry said: “As people became more independent, we’d go back to social services and say, ‘they’re doing better - we think we can reduce their support.’ That surprised a lot of people because most providers didn’t suggest lowering the fees. “But it helped build our reputation, and we started working more with the NHS as well as Local Authorities.” 

Changing the sector 

Over time, Lifeways played a major role in shifting care from institutions and residential care homes to supported living. “We even helped close three or four big learning disability institutions,” Jerry said.  

“Places that had 200-plus beds ended up with only 25 or 30 people left after the other patients were transferred to large residential care homes and facilities in the community. Of course, the remaining patients were typically the people with the most complex or challenging needs.  

“We were asked to place them in our supported living model because we were proving there was a better way. Our success in doing so allowed the NHS to finally close those institutions, saving them a lot of money while enabling their patients to enjoy a better quality of life.” 

Though he’s reluctant to brand Lifeways as “pioneers,” Jerry admits they were ahead of the curve in delivering truly individualised care for people with complex needs within the supported living model. 

The company started in London and had arranged some homes with local housing associations. “But arranging housing for the people we supported was difficult, so around 1997, we sold 51% of our company shares to a housing development company that promised to provide housing and rent it to our service users at housing benefit levels,” Jerry said.  

“But within a few months, that company acquired the Southampton Football Club and became Southampton Leisure Holdings. So suddenly we were the sister company of a premier league football club, and the promised housing never materialised.”  

Frustrated about the situation they were in, Jerry and Susan managed to buy back the company again in 2001 which was “one of the best decisions we made”. 

Lifeways grew rapidly. By 2007 it had expanded from a single office to 20 offices around the UK, which supported almost 900 people in supported living homes. Jerry credits that success to the solid foundations he and Susan laid. 

“Our top priority was always the people we supported. Second was our employees – our reputation and our people were our greatest assets. We knew that if we got those two things right, success would follow. It wasn’t rocket science: do a great job and word spreads.” 

After selling Lifeways in 2007, Jerry and Susan moved back to the United States, but he remained on the board of directors of Lifeways for an additional five years. They now live in New York state, where they run a charitable family foundation supporting social and civil rights causes, welfare, and environmental causes.   

Even now, Jerry still returns to London every month to serve as a director and investor in social care and health care companies. 

The story behind the name 

Finally, Jerry shared how Lifeways got its name. “We agonised over it,” he said. “We kept asking ourselves—what are we really about? We’re improving quality of life for people. We’re enabling people to enjoy a better way of living in their own home rather than in an institution. That’s how we landed on Lifeways.” 

Find out more about Lifeways’ 30th anniversary: https://lifeways.co.uk/about-us/about-lifeways 

 

About Lifeways:

Lifeways is the UK’s largest team of support professionals providing support for adults in the community.

We support adults with diverse and complex needs, including learning disabilities, autism, physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries, and mental health conditions.

Lifeways delivers support across three divisions: supported living, residential and mental health services.

As the supported living sector’s largest team of professionals, Lifeways’ extensive experience and national reach mean we deliver extraordinary support to adults, enabling them to live fulfilling and independent lives in the community. 

Our 9,500 colleagues currently support around 4,200 individuals who live in our 1,500 supported living and residential services across England, Scotland, and Wales. 

Find out more about how we change people's lives at: www.lifeways.co.uk  

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