MONKTON, Vt. (WCAX) – An innovative housing project in the works will allow people with and without developmental disabilities to live with independence and interdependence. Riverflow Community is parent-led, owned and operated. It was developed with an eye on the future to ensure adult children with developmental disabilities will always have the care they need.
“I can say sincerely that Riverflow Community… is utterly life changing for families like ours,” said Elizabeth Campbell of Shelburne.
Campbell is a founding member of Riverflow Community. It’s an idea that has become reality to ensure her 26-year-old son with Down syndrome continues to be cared for when she can no longer provide that care.
“None of us are at peace until we know there’s some kind of a secure future lined up for our children,” Campbell said.
The Riverflow Community plans a housing and service project in Monkton which spreads across 30 acres. The property holds a minimum of 15 people.
“Parents in my position are chronically concerned about what will happen to their adult children because of their developmental disabilities cannot provide or take care of themselves,” Campbell said.
It came together thanks to advocacy on Act 186, which set aside half a million dollars for planning grants to create communities like Riverflow.
“We worked relentlessly. We advocated and we initiated, and we got Act 186,” Campbell said.
That work has helped to pave the way for more communities like it, providing stable and supported housing for adults with high support needs. It would include caregivers and others with developmental disabilities, creating opportunities for new relationships and a structure to ensure around-the-clock care.
“I think it’s important because individuals you know as they’re aging with their adult children, like all of us, right, need to know that their children are going to be safe and taken care of. That’s what any parents wants for their children. So, being able to be a part of that is just instrumental for me,” said Julie Abrahamson of the Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living.
Jim Caffrey of Waitsfield is another founding member and also has an adult child with special needs. He says he’s grateful the state is recognizing this issue and he looks forward to the future.
“The intentional community model is going to be outstanding and it’s essentially creating a neighborhood or community within a broader community,” Caffrey said.
Riverflow and two other similar communities are still in the early planning stages. Final implementation plans are expected to be submitted in 2025.