Creating community: Rauch ready to begin construction on homes for disabled

BRADEN LAMMERS

Braden.Lammers@newsandtribune.com

November 04, 2009 09:31 pm

— Rauch Inc. held a groundbreaking ceremony in Hawthorne Glen Wednesday for the first phase of a project that will eventually build 18 homes for local people with disabilities.

The project is designed for individuals with physical and mental disabilities to live in supported housing, develop independence and be a part of the community.

“[It’s] our vision [to] imagine a community where everyone belongs,” said Bettye Dunham, Rauch CEO. “We are making it possible for people with disabilities to live in a nice community like anyone else would want to live in.”

Dunham said in creating a community to house and care for individuals with varying disabilities, Rauch is also creating peace of mind for families currently caring for the individuals.

“The importance is for the families,” Dunham said. “Families that have children with significant disabilities they worry in their life about, ‘what’s going to happen with my child when I am no longer here to care for them?’ Being able to find a location and find an agency that they trust that’s going to be able to make sure to fill that gap for them, is really the biggest thing that this is about.”

Rauch board member and father of an autistic daughter Steve Hines agreed.

“It takes some anxiety away from the parents who don’t know what’s going to happen when they pass on,” he said.

“I think it’ll give [the future residents] a sense of ownership, because they will have their own area to live in. It’s theirs. And yet they’re close to a community out here, they’re not ostracized out somewhere,” Hines said.

The community is set in the Hawthorn Glen subdivision off of Salem-Noble Road and Ind. 403.

Work has already begun on infrastructure for the first phase of the project.

As soon as the architectural plans are finalized, mostly likely within the next few weeks, construction of four multi-family homes will begin, said Danny McPheron, CFO for Rauch.

The homes will house three people per residence, and will allow each person to have their own bedroom and bathroom, but share common living spaces like kitchens and living rooms.

Rauch’s Director of supported living services Terri Thomas said the individuals living in the homes together will be placed based on compatibility, activities they like to do and things like whether they are a day or a night person.

“The good thing about it is, it’s client choice, and that’s what we want to promote,” she said.

The cost for the first part of the project is $1.66 million with a total price tag for all five phases near $5.8 million, McPheron said.

Portions of funding for the project will come from a grant from the federal home loan bank and Indiana home funds totaling approximately $700,000 and $481,100, respectively.

The remainder of the money will come from a Your Community Bank loan, which will be paid back by the residents in the form of rent.

Rent for the residents will be determined by federal Housing and Urban Development guidelines, and will be based on income. Rauch must maintain the rates for 20 years.

“We already have clients we’re serving, so hopefully when these houses become available some of those clients will be able to live out here,” McPheron said.

Also, the amount of assistance the individuals will receive will depend on the needs of each client and for some, staff may be in the home 24-hours-a-day.

But for the individuals occupying the homes, the move will be a welcomed one.

“Those folks [with disabilities] are no different from you and I with regard to what they want,” Hines said. “They want to be respected, they want to be loved, they want to have friends. They see a community being made for them ... [and] hopefully this will be a model for other folks.”

MORE INFO

• Call Rauch at (812) 945-4063

• Online- www.rauchinc.org

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Photos

Janice Leavell, past board member of Rauch, Inc., says a short prayer at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Rauch Residential Project. The four homes will be located within Hawthorne Glen at the corner of Ind. 403 and Salem-Noble Road. newsroom@newsandtribune.com

Members of the Rauch Residential Project groundbreaking ceremony sign one of the shovels for display. newsroom@newsandtribune.com