Habitat for Humanity of Wake County recently partnered with Lutheran Services Carolinas, The Serving Cup, and a large team of donors and volunteers to build three homes for adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. The project is known as Building Independence, and the new houses on Lake Wheeler Road in Raleigh will transform life for the nine adults who will move into the homes in the coming weeks.
The sponsors, donors, and volunteers who helped build this home will gather with the future residents for a dedication and celebration at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 21 at 2610 Lake Wheeler Road.
"Individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities deserve to be as independent as possible," says Lutheran Services Carolinas President Ted W. Goins, Jr. "We're excited for this project to be a reality, and are grateful to our partners Habitat for Humanity of Wake County and The Serving Cup, and all of the donors and volunteers who are helping to make independent living a possibility for these people.”
Each resident will have his or her own bedroom and bathroom, and each home will have a kitchen, dining room, and den. One of the homes will have a larger space for resident activities. The homes, which are accessible to public transportation and shopping, are energy efficient and affordable to maintain. Residents will have the daily on-site support needed for them to live safely and independently. This independent living skills coaching, together with additional services coordinated by Lutheran Services Carolinas, will provide each resident with the opportunity to work in a paid job or in a vocational training setting, to increase social skills, and to practice money management.
Building Independence addresses the pressing need for supportive housing in Wake County. In 2010, approximately one in four Wake County residents reported disability status, according to the NC State Center for Health Statistics. Many of these people can live indedependently with the support that projects such as Builidng Independence provide.
"We are honored to have joined with Lutheran Family Services and The Serving Cup on the Building Independence Project.," says Kevin Campbell, President/CEO of Habitat Wake. "We have built homes with families with disabilities in the past, but these homes will provide a new level of support and quality of life for the future residents and their families."
Building Independence is the vision of Tom and Pat Gipson, longtime Habitat for Humanity leaders, and Eric and Gail Vaughan, who are involved with Lutheran Services Carolinas and The Serving Cup, which Gail actually founded. The Vaughan helped build Green Level Homes, which provides a housing solution for adults with disabilities in Cary. With the need for housing still great, they turned to Habitat Wake to launch Building Indepence.
Other Building Independence contributors include Thrivent Financial, the Lutheran Coalition of Wake County, North Carolina Housing Financial Agency, Wheatridge foundaton, and numerous individual donors. Churches participating in the project include Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, Fuquay-Varina; Christ the King Lutheran Church, Cary; Grace Lutheran Church, Raleigh; Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Raleigh; Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Raleigh; Hope Lutheran Church, Wake Forest; Our Savior Lutheran Church, Raleigh; Resurrection Lutheran Church, Cary; and St. Philip Lutheran Church, Raleigh.