Married Couple Living Together – Finally

Paul Forziano puts on some music to lighten the mood. Hava Samuels demands that she serve the coffee.

It's her first day in a new apartment with her husband, and with a room full of guests, she's taking full advantage of her first opportunity to serve as hostess in her new place.

"I'll pour," she says. "My house."

The couple has art laying on the floor, waiting to be put on the walls. A John Lennon picture. An autographed program by Davey Jones of "The Monkees." A sign that says "Happily Ever After..."

On an ottoman in the middle of the living room sits the "East End Disabilities Associates 2013 Guidelines." Part of it reads: "EEDA embraces the Constitution and its amendments and acknowledges that these documents were written 'For All Men,' including individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities."

Forziano and Samuels, the couple celebrating their first day in their new apartment, both have mental disabilities, and were denied the chance to live together by their former providers. After their former caretakers – Independent Group Home Living and MaryHaven Center of Hope – did not offer them a place of their own, Riverhead’s East End Disabilities offered the couple a place to stay.

Monday was their move-in day.

Samuels and Forziano, side-stepping between members of the media, their parents and others in the room, call the apartment, "big." "Nice." "My house."

"It's a dream come true for them," said Forziano's mother, Roseann. The couple met seven years ago and was engaged for three years before marrying in April. During their engagement, Roseann recalls, it was all "negative, negative, negative" trying to find them a place to live together.

"But then we started meeting like Martin and Robert," she said, referring to attorneys Martin Coleman and Robert Briglio, and others who have supported the families along the way. "This is the life they want to have. They proactively sought it out."

The road has been paved with a lawsuit which has gained national headlines due to what some have called the first-of-its-kind nature; the couple and their parents have charged that Forziano and Samuels' civil rights have been violated – by nonprofits which receive government funding to provide services – under the Americans With Disabilities Act. 

IGHL stated that their facilities are not staffed to supervise married couples, since “married couples typically do not need such supervision.”

While the court case plays out, the couple is – at least at first – temporarily living in the Riverhead group home for a 90-day window. If they like it, they can stay.

Bonnie Samuels, Hava’s mother, said she felt excited, anxious, and nervewracking all at the same time on Monday. Just like any other parent would be on a day their child was moving in with their spouse.

"Any time your child goes on to be a little more independent – it's just that letting go," she said.

To Bonnie’s satisfaction, the apartment – formerly a live-in space for on-site aids at the group home, which also houses a group of men separately – had been converted to offer additional safety options for the couple. And Gus Lagoumis, director of operations with EEDA, said one staffer would be assigned to them.

In the kitchen of her new apartment, Bonnie Samuels' daughter pours coffee for all her guests who want some, while her mother-in-law keeps an eye out – just in case.

And the music Paul Forziano put on for the guests? Hava Nagila: the famous Jewish song played at their wedding. His dad says he plays it often.