By Joel Hammond
Jack Hemmelgarn had largely lived at home with his parents for his entire life, save for parts of three school years when he attended Kent State University.
When Solon voters approved — with an overwhelming 83 percent “yes” vote — a ballot issue to create a new multi-family residential and special-needs zoning district just southeast of the city’s burgeoning business district, Jack’s mom Lois Hemmelgarn’s ears perked up.
Solon Community Living is the brainchild of Ara and Leslie Bagdasarian of Solon, who, like Hemmelgarn, have children with special needs and, since their birth, have wondered about how they’d be cared for after their parents were gone or no longer able to care for them. So they created Solon Community Living for families like theirs and Hemmelgarn’s, and the first residents — including Jack Hemmelgarn, 30 – moved in this past June.
Lois Hemmelgarn and her husband, Terry, of Bentleyville in southeast Cuyahoga County, had been searching for a home for Jack for many years, and waited patiently as the Bagdasarians secured appropriate voter approval and got to work.
Jack Hemmelgarn said he was worried about making the move to his new home, but those fears have eased as he’s settled in. He’s taking care of some plant watering duties on the property and was making laundry plans during an interview, as he needed freshly ironed pants for his job at Eliza Jennings in Chagrin Falls, where he’s a dishwasher.
“I was worried about how I would feel about everything,” he says. “I’ve dealt with depression before. I didn’t know if I would be OK with it but I knew it was going to be the best thing for me. I’m glad my parents got me into this situation and setup. All my worries have disappeared now that I am here.”
The community is adjacent to the Solon Recreation Center, where Jack Hemmelgarn can walk and will continue his participation in Solon Blue Ribbon Adapted Recreation, which offers community-based activities for people with developmental disabilities. It’s also a safe walk, via sidewalks, to the Solon branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library. Soon, a massive rehabilitation of Aurora Road in Solon — one of the city’s main thoroughfares — will be complete with new sidewalks and could potentially provide him the opportunity to walk to downtown Solon.
For Lois Hemmelgarn, the move has come with mixed emotions. She said she and her husband have had to adjust, physically and emotionally, to Jack being away from home.
“The hard part is giving up that security I feel I gave him at home 24 hours a day, versus letting him go out and do this,” she says. “We raised him and we always said, ‘We are raising a child that can become an adult who is a productive member of the community and can do things as much as he can on his own.’ This was the step we had to take.”
Now, the planning really begins. There are details to be hashed out, such as transportation to his job, food shopping and delivery, and more. But perhaps most importantly, there’s housewarming party planning. Jack said his twin 24-year-old sisters, who live in Chicago and Boston, respectively, along with friends and cousins, have been asking him if he was going to have a housewarming party.
“Heck yes I am,” he said with a laugh.
Parent Worries Are Common in
Similar Communities
Those worries detailed by Lois Hemmelgarn are exceedingly common among parents whose children face developmental challenges, says Chris West, president and CEO of North Coast Community Homes, a Garfield Heights-based organization that develops high-quality homes where individuals living with developmental disabilities and mental health challenges can lead lives of dignity, self-expression and connection.
The organization serves more than 600 individuals in nearly 200 homes located throughout Cuyahoga, Summit, Lake, Stark and Erie counties. West said that the fear is palpable when he speaks to families about their options with NCCH.
“I can see it on parents’ faces every time I meet with them,” West says.
In the past, West said, the individuals served by communities like NCCH had fewer options, and sometimes only one. And where NCCH in the past had largely been focused on single-family homes, it’s expanding its options for families to include apartments within larger buildings, tiny homes, duplexes and more, as families’ wants and needs change.
NCCH and Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities (Cuyahoga DD) has also introduced a new TryTech model, where residents try an advanced-tech apartment for three weeks to gauge their comfort in living independently, another effort to minimize the worries and fear that residents experience.
Several communities in Northeast Ohio are providing adults with disabilities independent living options and families of those individuals peace of mind that they’ll be cared for.
Cost varies among all of these facilities; many NCCH residents, for example, are assisted by disability, social security and other mechanisms. Solon Community Living, meanwhile, is all private pay for residential, but services are paid through similar sources — disability, Medicaid and other sources.
West says the families with whom he works directly and his organization works broadly are relieved by and excited about the independence these communities provide.
“The residents love to be on their own, just like anyone else, and the parents know at some point they’re going to be gone,” West says. “They just want to know their kids are going to be fine, and these options give them that sense of peace.”
Here’s a look at some of the communities
providing these services in the area:
Maximum Accessible Housing: Cleveland-based organization with five apartment communities located in University Circle, Mentor-on-the-Lake, Avon Lake, Parma and Sheffield Township. maxhousing.org
Medina Creative Housing: Owns 14 single-family homes in Medina County and an independent living experience home in Brunswick with eight efficiency units, part of its Creative Living Transitions program. medinacreativehousing.com
Solon Community Living: Has 14 private suites for residents and six caregiver suites near downtown Solon and adjacent to the Solon Community Center and Solon branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library. soloncommunityliving.org
Thrive Community Living: Berea-based organization that provides apartment homes for adults ages 22-35.
thrivelivingcle.org
North Coast Community Housing: Garfield Heights-based organization that develops and maintains nearly 200 homes and serves more than 600 individuals across Northeast Ohio. ncch.org
Summit Housing Development Corporation: Cuyahoga Falls-based organization that owns more than 225 homes in 17 counties that provide housing for more than 500 individuals. summithousing.org
