Residential
The Independent Housing Initiative (“IHI”) setting will be a safe, supportive, and affordable neurodiverse residential community in Milwaukee, WI for approximately 30-40 adults with intellectual, developmental, and/or physical disabilities and intentional neighbors without disabilities. IHI will set a goal for no less than 75 percent of the residents to be adults with disabilities. As a private community, IHI will determine who will reside in the village. Adults with disabilities and village residents will advise the community’s design and management.
The Model
The IHI setting will be developed in phases as a mix of for-sale and for-lease fully accessible residences organized into clusters around greenspaces. The mix of housing types and costs will provide a range of options for individuals with disabilities to suit their individual needs, desires, abilities, and financial resources.
Small Homes
We are planning for a cluster of small homes in which the one-bedroom units would be roughly 650sf each, while the two-bedroom units would be around 900sf. Each would have its own front shaded porch with a common area located within each cluster. Each home would contain a living space, eat-in kitchen, and laundry room. Each bedroom will have a private en suite bathroom and be large enough for a queen bed, dresser, desk, chair, nightstand, and a walk-in closet.
Apartment Building
We are planning for a building with one-bedroom units roughly 650sf, and two-bedroom units of up to 900sf each. Each bedroom will have a private en suite bathroom. The building's common spaces would include gathering spots and sensory rooms.
Outdoor Amenities
The grounds will include pathways, community spaces and private spaces, flower and vegetable gardens, gazebo, water fountain, picnic tables, and more designed to create a safe and inviting environment.
A Community Manager will handle sales and rentals, uses of the common areas, support community life and friendships, help organize activities, encourage community integration, and coordinate security and maintenance of the community.
Residents will choose and manage their own Supportive Home Care (SHC) supports and services and fund them through Medicaid waivers or private pay. Transportation will be provided primarily by resident’s SHC staff or through services coordinated with third parties.
The Need
The market need that Independent Housing Initiative is addressing with their community is substantial and increasing. There are far more adult residents of Wisconsin with IDD than there are safe, supportive, and affordable residential settings designed to accommodate their needs and wants through their lifespans.
There were 129,968 people who have IDD in the State of Wisconsin as of June 30, 2019, according to the In-Home and Residential Long-Term Supports and Services (LTSS) for Persons with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities: Status and Trends Through 2019 report produced by the Residential Information Systems Project (RISP) of the University of Minnesota. Of that total, 80,340 were 18 years of age or older not living in congregate settings.
More significantly, only 7,387 Wisconsin adults who have IDD who received Medicaid HCBS waiver funded LTSS lived in a home of their own. Wisconsin is one of the worst states in the nation in the percentage of individuals with IDD receiving LTSS who still live with a family member at more than 63 percent.
In Wisconsin, 60% of IDD individuals live with a family caregiver because they are unable to find appropriate housing. Even more concerning is that 26 percent of adults with IDD in Wisconsin are being supported by caregivers age 60 and older as of fiscal year 2019, according to the State of the States in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities from The University of Kansas Center on Developmental Disabilities. This particular demographic can be considered at-risk due to the fact the caregivers may soon need caregiving for themselves.