The Home Possible Project, which aims to construct a supportive housing site for adults with developmental disabilities, has been offered the opportunity to do so on undeveloped land located behind the First United Methodist Church of Gilford. Shown here, from left, are Lisa DiMartino, Cheryl Larose, Dorothy Piquado, Tara Larose, Eliza Leadbeater, Gary DiMartino, Paul Weston, John Michael DiMartino, Deb Nugent, Ian Nugent, Joyce Ringleb, Karen McDowell, Corey McDowell, Sue Roger, Wes Dull, Chris Hutchins, Ella Guest, Katie Guest, Benjamin Fisher and Joel Fisher. (Adam Drapcho/The Laconia Daily Sun photo)
It’s been a rollercoaster of a year for the families behind the Home Possible Project. The group, which seeks to create a supportive residence for adults with developmental disabilities, thought their prayers had been answered last fall when it appeared the town was willing to give them a lot to built on near the middle and high schools. That deal was shot down by voters at Town Meeting in March, but the families determined to see that as merely a setback.
Their faith has since been rewarded with a new offer, this time coming from the First United Methodist Church, which suggested the Home Possible Project could indeed become possible by building on undeveloped land located behind the church.
If the plan comes to fruition, it would represent a critical solution to a problem that vexes families with members with developmental disabilities. When a child is born with such a diagnosis, it largely falls on parents to provide the necessary support, especially continuing into adulthood. However, that leaves parents with a persistent and significant worry — what will happen to their child when the parent is no longer able to provide care?
An ideal solution would be somewhere that combines a home-like environment with around-the-clock support, and near enough that residents could maintain connections with their communities and family members. Nothing like that currently exists in the Lakes Region, so the Home Possible nonprofit organization was created to build just such a place.
‘A monumental step’
The first foray for Home Possible might not have been as successful as they hoped — some who advocated against the town giving them the land at the corner of Alvah Wilson Road and Gilford Avenue said they had environmental concerns — it succeeded in attracting the attention of Eliza Leadbeater, who resides in the Wesley Woods retirement community, a development affiliated with the Methodist church.
Leadbeater said she watched the controversy build up around the proposal as Town Meeting approached earlier this year, and started to think about contingencies.
“When the warrant article was defeated, then my backup plan was the church. … That’s when the discussion started with the church in earnest,” Leadbeater said.
Her idea was met with open arms by trustees of the church, and by church members as well, who all supported the idea of giving Home Possible six acres of land, leased for 99 years at the nominal rate of $1 per year.
Wes Dull, chair of the church’s board of trustees, said giving the land to such an organization aligns with the greater mission of the church. “We believe our primary mission is to reach out to our community, help those in need, support those in need,” Dull said.
Looking back on the defeat at Town Meeting, Katie Guest, one of the parents who helped to form Home Possible, said “it was sad to see that roadblock, but it didn’t stop us. We had to take a different route, and we found it.”
“It made us more determined,” said Lisa DiMartino, another of the founding members of Home Possible.
Gary DiMartino, her husband, said parents of children with developmental disabilities are well versed in adversity. “We have challenges every day,” he said. “Our motivation as parents is extremely strong.”
“This isn’t just about our children,” Lisa added. “The whole dream is we build this first one, and it’s successful, and will serve more individuals. It’s important work because there’s a crisis going on in New Hampshire and throughout the country.”
Without enough residential facilities nearby, adults who need supportive care might end up being placed far away, perhaps as far as Florida, where they might have the services they need but wouldn’t be able to maintain ties to their community.
Lisa called the gift of the land a “monumental step” toward a future when they will know that adults like their son, John Michael, won’t have to be removed from the town he knows in order to continue to receive the care he needs.
The building they hope to create would be a single-floor structure with up to a dozen single-occupancy units, each similar to an efficiency apartment. The building would also have common spaces for cooking, eating and leisure activities, so residents could be as private or as social as they choose.
Organization members anticipate the likelihood of having to pursue zoning variances or special exceptions through the towns’ planning process, though they don’t foresee much opposition to the plan.
A greater challenge will be funding. As an early estimate, Home Possible is looking at raising $4 million, and is building an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink strategy to hit that target, including government grants, support from local businesses, individual gifts and in-kind donations.
Small and slow
The Home Possible has an advantage in that it is not the first organization in New Hampshire to tackle such a challenge. The group is looking to replicate a decade-old plan first developed in Enfield by the organization Visions for Creative Housing Solutions, of which Sylvia Kluge Dow is a founder and executive director.
Kluge Dow said she and her husband embarked on their journey about a decade ago, as she was recovering from a health scare. They have two adult daughters who require care. The older, who is turning 40, has Down’s syndrome and is fairly independent, and one who is two years younger requires more attention.
“We were getting tired, I had a health issue in 2011, I didn’t know if I was going to survive,” Kluge Dow recalled. “It was an eye-opener.”
Visions for Creative Housing opened a housing facility in Enfield in 2014, which now has space for 11 residents. Five years later, they began working on a second site in Lebanon, which opened in 2021 for another 11 residents. In the same year, they were given a property in Hanover, which they have since opened for 12 residents. Visions has outlined their strategy in a document they’ve put on their website, intended to be useful to other like-minded groups. That document has since been downloaded more than 100 times. In addition to the Gilford project, there’s a group working on a similar effort in Dover, and Kluge Dow said there is also interest in the Concord area and in communities in the southern part of the state.
Kluge Dow still vividly recalls the first night she and her husband were able to have dinner together, just the two of them, in their own home, after decades of caring for their two daughters. It was an odd feeling, she said.
“Remarkable. I thought, ‘We did it, this is maybe going to work,’” Kluge Dow said.
It turned out “work” was the operable part of that sentence. Opening three facilities inside of a decade, getting them all staffed and compliant with regulations, has been a considerable ordeal.
“I will tell you, it’s really hard work. I feel like I’ve given 10 years of my life, 60 hours a week, getting this off the ground,” Kluge Dow said. “The regulations we have to follow are immense, to have the staffing to support our residents, the oversight and supervision to make sure we are doing the best job we can do, it’s a big undertaking. I sometimes fear for these parent groups, they are taking on a huge job.”
Her advice is for new organizations to start “small and slow,” and look for partnerships, particularly for area agencies who contract with the state to provide care for residents with developmental disabilities.
Though Visions for Creative Housing has published its plan for others to use, she said it shouldn’t be taken as gospel. There are other ways to approach this challenge, she said, and what worked for Enfield might not work for every town.
“We need different options, we need different models. It’s not one size fits all,” Kluge Dow said.
She added she hoped the towns and cities where these supportive housing facilities are built will embrace them, particularly when it comes to the fundraising phase.
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