Covid-safe community announcement

Massachusetts Accessible Living Community

Audience

Adults with disabilities who:
- Have trouble leaving the house
- Require help with some activities of daily living (but do not need a full time nurse)
- Seek community
- Understand the risks of covid (and other viral illnesses) and want to take precautions to reduce spread
Approx 10M Americans fit this category (6% of ages 18-64)

The Problem Statement

The Lack of Community Housing Options
There are very few group homes for adults with disabilities.
Nursing homes exist for the elderly, and state sponsored homes for people on disability have very long waitlists. Neither are taking covid precautions. Some don’t allow residents to leave on their own volition.The Difficulty Finding Your Own Service Provider
Housebound adults need service providers to come to them - like personal care attendants, cleaners, hair stylists, massage therapists, home maintenance. Finding their own service providers is a difficult and lengthy process: Vetting each person, teaching them about your sensitivities (e.g. no fragrance), and finally ensuring they will wear a properly fitted respirator. An individual adult with an energy limiting disease does not have the capacity to deal with all of that, but a group could hire and train the same people to take care of everyone.Family Carers
Some adults with disabilities are lucky to have supportive family, but many others continue to live with abusive carers because independent options like this do not exist.

The Vision

Our residential community would solve these problems by bringing necessary services to you (such as cleaners, PCAs, hair stylists), being located nearby to essential retail services (pharmacy, eye doctor, grocery store), and by providing community events to foster friendship. All of these services/stores would have mandatory masking and other covid protocols (HEPA, far UV).1. Buy an apartment building. Retrofit improved ventilation systems and disability friendly appliances and fixtures (e.g. shower seats and rails). Communal areas would be cleaned with fragrance-free products.
2. Hire and train a pool of service providers (personal care attendants, cleaners, hair stylists, massage therapists, personal chefs) to understand the residents’ sensitives and to take appropriate covid precautions (wear fit tested masks)
3. Put essential medical services on the 1st floor (pharmacy, dentist, eye doctor, grocery, blood lab, physical therapy) with appropriate covid protocols
4. Fill the building with adults with disabilities (and allies), make friends with your neighbors, live happily ever after without leaving the premises.
5. Bonus: Non-essential, fun businesses e.g. movie theater, thrift store, theater

We are currently seeking founding members and investors. Please get in touch with us!

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