Sharon Hanks
Grand Rapids will boast a new home for individuals with developmental disabilities this August, thanks primarily to the efforts of a Marne woman who saw a need in the community for special homes to house adults with special needs.
Faith House is a $700,000 construction project set to open in late August at 340 Thornridge Dr. NW along Lake Michigan Dr. NW in Grand Rapids, according to Cindy Owen, who co-chairs Faith House's development board with Scott Dennis of Grand Rapids.
The home that can house up to six men is made possible through the Covenant Enabling Residences (CER), which is affiliated with the 40-acre Covenant Village of the Great Lakes Retirement Home located adjacent to Faith House at 2510 Lake Michigan Dr. NW, Owen says. The retirement home donated the property where Faith House now sits. Faith House is the first CER home in the Grand Rapids area and the third home to be built in Michigan. It will have six bedrooms and a lower-level apartment for live-in staff.
"I'm amazed at the community support and how it's embraced this," Owen says. "All we needed to do was to let them know of the need. They've just been super supportive." She is especially grateful to Bruce Burgess of Wolverine Construction, Paul Limley of Bouma Corp. and Mark Post of Post & Associates for their volunteer efforts.
Owen says she got involved after she and her husband, Tim, began searching for a group homes for two of Tim's brothers, twin boys with special needs who were adopted by Tim's parents as youngsters. They are now 27. The Owens also have a teen-age son with Down syndrome.
"It wasn't easy," she recalls in describing their search for a home where they would be cared for and loved. "The ones we looked at were full and with a waiting list."
Now, after a whirlwind of fundraising events, such as wine-tasting parties and auctions, she is hoping to move one of her brothers-in-law closer to Grand Rapids. He now lives in a group home in Zeeland. The other brother-in-law lives close by in a group home in Jension.
Source: Cindy Owen, co-chair of Faith House Development Board, Grand Rapids.
Sharon Hanks is innovations and jobs news editor at Rapid Growth Media. Please send story ideas and comments for the column to Sharon at [email protected]. She also is owner of The Write Words in Grand Rapids
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