32 acres acquired for Jacksonville community for special-needs adults | jacksonville.com
Land approved for planned living for adults with special needs :
By Deirdre Conner : Posted: May 12, 2011
After years of discussion and planning, a proposal for a 32-acre community for people with developmental disabilities is moving forward.
An initiative of The Arc Jacksonville, The Hodges Community would include independent and semi-independent living, as well as recreational and transportation opportunities and a community center. It is set to break ground in 2013 and would take five to 10 years to build.
The property is located near Beach and Hodges boulevards, on a parcel behind the SuperTarget. The land was donated to the state in 1969 by a group of families who mandated that it go to help people with developmental disabilities. It currently houses a local office of the state Agency for Persons with Disabilities.
Jim Whittaker, executive director of The Arc, said the project would get a boost when a 99-year lease with his organization was approved by the state in December.
Plans for the community will include different types of housing, including condominiums, apartments and houses and a few small group homes. Families will be able to choose from a "menu" of options depending on the person's need.
"It would be similar to what you'd refer to as a senior community, but instead for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities," said Whittaker.
'Definitely a need'
As it moves closer to reality, the project is igniting debate among parents: Some see it as a godsend, while others worry it is an unwitting step back toward segregating people with disabilities.
Melanie Coughlin, an Orange Park resident, said her adult children were thrilled when she told them about the possibility. She worries about what will happen to Adam, who has cerebral palsy, and Angela, who has Prader-Willi syndrome, when she is no longer able to care for them.
"There's definitely a need in the community for it," Coughlin said.
She said she liked the idea that Angela and Adam would be able to remain close to one another, but with the help they need to be safe.
"Angela's big goal in life is to have her own apartment," she said. But because of her condition, she needs specific supports. "That's not going to be possible unless it's in a planned community."
She said she understands concerns about segregating people with disabilities but thinks they are just as isolated in an apartment where no one engages them.
'Backward move'
But Lee Henderson disagrees. Henderson, whose 22-year-old son has Down syndrome, said that such planned communities go against all of the changes that have made society more inclusive of people with disabilities.
"This is an absolute backward move," he said.
Henderson is also president of Henderson Haven, a nonprofit he started with his wife, Sherri, to provide services and advocacy for people with developmental disabilities.
"This is nothing more than just another form of accepted segregation for this population," he wrote in an open letter from the organization in response to the plans for the communities. He said he fears the plan is "nothing more than a state institution."
Henderson believes that full community inclusion should be the goal - and that it is possible with the right supports.
'Visionary stage'
Whittaker said that what makes this community different is its location near transportation and recreational activities.
"Even though we have a number of people who have been successful in having their own apartment and job, they're very isolated," he said. "They don't drive, so transportation is an issue, keeps them from going out and socializing."
Whittaker said the goal is also for the development to have amenities that will bring the wider community in on a regular basis. Nothing has been set, but officials imagine something like a YMCA or city soccer fields being set on the property.
"All that's in the visionary stage," he said.
The design phase of the project is only in its infancy, and no price tag has been set. But it will be funded in part by a capital campaign, as well as the sale of homes to families and subsidized housing grants. Whittaker said that ensuring affordable housing in the community will be a priority.
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