When the founders met nearly 20 years ago, they wrote our mission that continues to guide us each day – to provide opportunities for the Friends to grow personally, develop socially and enjoy community as they live life together.
FLC started with 4 Friends and last year alone, we supported over 100. Because of the dedicated support of our Community, we are able to start putting stakes in the ground for growth.
Over the next three years, we plan to offer services in two additional locations, starting with satellite sites, so that we can offer even more Friends a sense of community and belonging.
It is important that we grow deeper, not just wider.
Since its inception, the dream of FLC has always included housing. So when Trent Development Group approached us about a housing partnership, we were excited to apply what we have learned to a housing model. We believe we are taking the next best step in making this dream a reality.
Trent Development Group secured funding for one house and is working with Eclipse Construction to build the 4 bed/4bath house with the hopes of a second close behind, on the empty lot beside FLC.
Through this partnership, Trent Development Group and Eclipse Construction will lead the development and construction process, allowing Friends Life Community to focus on what we do best – building community for adults with disabilities through programming.
Together, we will develop a pilot project that allows us to create and test a collaborative model for Friends to live independently in community with other young professionals.
This is not about becoming something different. It’s about continuing the vision that has been at the heart of Friends Life from the very beginning.
We are still very early in the process. We do not have all the answers yet.
This pilot will start very small. Just like the day program started with four Friends, we want to start small and nimble with the goal of scaling the pilot program to include many additional opportunities.
As we imagine this next chapter, we are thinking not only about what this could mean for our Friends and families, but also about what it could mean for the broader community around us.
The Friends wrote a poem titled, “Everyone Deserves a Place to Belong” and it ends like this:
That when we are together
We are never truly alone.
As we celebrate the Friends and all of their accomplishments, it is a reminder that breaking ground is not new to Friends Life Community – We have always been groundbreaking in what we do and will continue to be because we do it together – because we do it for the Friends.
For questions or more information, contact Waverly Ann Harris at waverly@friendslife.org.
