Sophie Singer is a 20-year-old social butterfly with a passion for baking and knitting. Every month, along with other kids and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), she hangs out with neurotypical peers in a “connecting with friends” social group that meets near her home in the Pacific Palisades. She has an entire other group of friends from Ramah sleep-away camp. Her popularity is no surprise to her parents, Jeff, a real estate investor, and Kellie, a stay-at-home mom. They describe her as “funny and fun with a great attitude.”
Singer’s independence and social life are central to her experience as a high-functioning young adult with IDD. Because of optic nerve hypoplasia, which manifests in some visual impairment due to an abnormality at the junction of her optic nerve and brain, Singer’s hypothalamus and hormones operate differently than her neurotypical twin sister, Rylee and older sister, Emily. As a result, she gets some extra support from social services organizations that offer vocational and life skills training to encourage her independence.
Finding the balance between independence and support services that will enable Singer to continue to thrive is a major focus for her parents. This fall, Singer is ready to experience off-campus housing when she attends UCLA. Kellie has full confidence in her daughter. “She cooks, cleans, does laundry. She can do it all,” Kellie told the Journal.
When they look to Singer’s future, her parents hope she will always have the ability to live an independent life surrounded by community. “Foremost on our minds has always been that she be in a safe environment after we are gone, that she can live independently and have personal relationships with her peers,” Kellie said. “We never want Sophie to feel lonely or isolated.”
For decades, Los Angeles families with adult children who have intellectual and developmental disabilities have longed for a housing solution that will provide them peace of mind while enabling their children to live fulfilling, independent lives.
For decades, Los Angeles families with adult children who have IDD have longed for a housing solution that will provide them peace of mind while enabling their children to live fulfilling, independent lives with access to the health, vocational and educational support services they need. This also is an urgent need nationwide, as more than 70,000 teenagers with IDD enter adulthood every year. According to the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, the lack of housing options results in about 6 in 10 adults with IDD continuing to live with their families past the age of 35.
However, that is all about to change with the creation of The Village, an innovative and groundbreaking housing solution specifically designed for the IDD community. Envisioned primarily by a group of motivated parents and Jewish philanthropists, the state-of-the-art building will be constructed in the heart of Pico-Robertson as a solution to meet the pressing needs of dozens of families in Los Angeles. It also will serve as model for the nation on how to build inclusive housing solutions that embody the Jewish premise of b’tzelem Elohim — that all people are created in God’s image — and deserve to be treated with dignity.
Clinical psychologist Michael Held is a long-time advocate for the IDD community and founder of ETTA, the largest Jewish agency in Los Angeles serving the disabled community. Established in 1993, ETTA’s professional team of 220 provides a full spectrum of services rooted in Jewish values to more than 150 adults with IDD and their families. “It’s really been the driving force and joy in my own life to create opportunities that broaden and include adults with IDD in the Jewish community,” Held said.
“The intention is that The Village serve as a model on how a pioneering approach can be used in cities around the world to solve the challenge of meaningful, affordable housing for adults with disabilities.” — Cathy Gott
As recently as the 1960s, many adults with IDD were housed by the hundreds in large institutions on the outskirts of urban centers where living costs were much lower. “The philosophy was out of sight and out of mind,” Held said. As social justice efforts advanced and progressive opinion shifted, California passed the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Act in 1977. The state began to shut down these institutions and developed the Regional Center system, a collection of nonprofit private corporations that provide resources and services to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.
Support services for children and adults with IDD vary according to each person’s needs. ETTA, for instance, provides social, recreational, independent living and vocational skills services. To encourage independence, service providers teach skills such as making medical appointments, navigating public transportation, job coaching, building and keeping social relationships and participation in recreational activities. Although California is a state that offers many entitlements for social and welfare services for people with IDD, rent is not a covered expense.
“Housing services are unfortunately far behind these other areas of support,” Held said. “Over the past 30 years, there have been countless families and clients that have been asking for the creation of a housing community that can model the inclusion that so many have worked for within the Jewish community.”
Currently, there are only three housing options for families that include an adult with IDD. The first is being able to afford to rent an apartment for an adult child. “Families already brave the high cost of living in cities like Los Angeles and covering a second living situation is cost-prohibitive for most,” Held said.
The second option, he explained, is for three or four adults with IDD to live together and share the cost of rent. ETTA currently operates four group homes of this nature that provide about 24 residents in Los Angles with urban housing. They also provide support services to 20 additional individuals who live in other homes. Held said that the smaller group homes are “a good trend in terms of philosophy, but it’s a very harsh trend in terms of economics.”
The third option is via real estate developers who are required to include low income units in all new building construction in Los Angeles. Securing these units is arduous and rare, with dozens of families seeking housing of this nature.
In response to this gap in supportive housing options, a group of community activists — many of whom have family members with IDD — joined with philanthropic leaders from the real estate and finance sectors in early 2019 to form the nonprofit Cornerstone Housing for Adults With Disabilities (Cornerstone), where Held serves as senior adviser. Together, they are working to revolutionize the housing services industry for adults with IDD.
Cathy Gott, a philanthropist and longtime volunteer in the autism support community, is on the board of Cornerstone. A parent to Danny, an adult son who lives with autism, Cathy is also a volunteer for the Los Angeles County Commission for Disabilities. She has been involved in many conversations over the years about how to solve the housing problem for adults with IDD in Los Angeles and nationwide. She told the Journal everything finally clicked when the current group of high-powered individuals formed a board. “These people are giants in their fields and I’m a passionate mom who has no fear of asking for money,” she said. “When you marry two sectors — the power players with the passionate advocates — that’s when something big happens.”
Along with the retail space, the common rooms and rooftop garden deck will be available for public use, encouraging community engagement with and full integration of adults with IDD.
The Village aims to be a forward-thinking housing solution that will include more than 60 individual apartments situated above high-end retail establishments, all in one state-of-the-art building. The project is set to be located in the heart of the Beverlywood community at 9224 W. Pico Blvd. between Cardiff Avenue and Glenville Drive. After obtaining their nonprofit status, the priority of Cornerstone’s all-volunteer group of lay leaders has been securing the property, which meant securing funding.
In just nine months, the group of real estate professionals, architects and community leaders raised $9 million of their $12 million goal from private donors within the Jewish community including Hendel and Eric Schwartz and family, the Nancy and Jonathan Glaser family, the George and Irina Schaeffer Foundation, Kam and Lily Babaoff and family, Peter and Andrea Roth, Judah and Astrid Hertz, Aviva and Scott Krieger, Kellie and Jeffrey Singer and the Caplow Family Foundation.
With a major portion of funds secured, the Cornerstone team plans to close escrow on the land later this summer. Plans currently are being reviewed by the city of Los Angeles and Cornerstone projects to break ground by the end of 2021 and open to residents some time in 2023. Said Gott, “We already have more people interested in the project than we have units being built.”
Board member Kam Babaoff, a local real estate developer, recruited architectural partner Urban Architecture Lab to design the project. Richard Solares, the firm’s president and founder, told the Journal, “Kam and the board of Cornerstone challenged us to create a showpiece building. Though it will be run by a nonprofit, he pushed us to create a modern design equivalent to any other building at market rate.”
With experience building other mixed-purpose buildings, Solares’ design includes Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant amenities in all residential units and important details such as color-coordinated floors to more easily orient residents to their personal unit. Known as “wayfinding,” Solares’ colleague and a principal at the firm, Ewa Opasinski added that in a project like this, “we pay extra attention to detail on signage and user flow to make sure that the residents can thrive.”
Similarly, the six-floor building has dedicated communal spaces on the second floor and a rooftop to encourage socialization and community involvement. “We’ve designed many buildings at our firm with modern amenities, but I can’t think of any previous project that had an entire floor dedicated to common areas with a full commercial kitchen and dining room,” Opasinski said.
The multipurpose floor also will include a fitness center, office spaces, a laundry facility and an outdoor area Solares described as “an indoor-outdoor living room.” The rooftop deck will have 360-degree views of the city as well as a garden to provide fresh produce, learning opportunities and entertainment for the residents.
Key to the vision is The Village’s central location on prime real estate at the core of the Jewish community. “The Jewish community will play a key role in proving that this paradigm shift is not only a possibility, but a paragon,” Held said, adding that with many neighboring businesses, synagogues and organizations, “the neighborhood will have a prominent role in modeling the inclusion that generations of advocates in the IDD community have worked for.”
The central location also will ensure families can stay geographically close and connected. The building will be situated on a bus line to give residents flexibility and mobility for work and easy access to the socializing and entertainment options available in the neighborhood. The retail space on the ground floor also will provide employment opportunities for some residents. “It’s a vibrant place to live. It’s a meaningful place to live,” Held said.
Along with the retail space, the common rooms and rooftop garden deck will be available for public use, encouraging community engagement with and full integration of adults with IDD. “It’s going to precipitate a shift in the way our society sees adults with IDD,” Held said. Gott agreed. “The Village is being built to serve as a nexus for residents, neighbors and businesses to come together and make an inspired statement about the unique value of every person,” she said. “It is the start of a new movement.”
The ethos of the movement espoused by Gott, Held and the Cornerstone board is all about choice, or what disability rights experts call “person-centered planning.” Federal mandates and best practices are embodied by an enormous shift in which adults with IDD must be supported in making their own choices. As such, Gott said that The Village is just like any other apartment building. There are no set dinner times or curfews and residents are not required to work with any particular support service provider. “This is an independent apartment community built to ensure residents can grow and reach their full potential,” she explained. “You couldn’t enforce those regulations in a building for neurotypical people, so you can’t enforce them in The Village either.”
Gott also noted that to further encourage inclusivity, The Village will be open to residents from all denominations and backgrounds, as well as those without disabilities. “We want to have an element of neuro-diversity in the building with neurotypical people living alongside people with developmental disabilities,” she said, adding, “We’re building something that hasn’t been built with such attention to inclusivity ever before.”
As initial plans were being formulated, Miller Ink, a strategic communications firm based in Los Angeles, did market research and focus groups with many parents of adult children with IDD. Gott said with the information gained from that research, the Cornerstone board is partnering with the Regional Center and Department of Developmental Services to ensure the building meets as many of their needs as possible. “We are staying in close contact to ensure we are compliant with federally mandated statutes so that families’ access to support services are not jeopardized when their adult with IDD moves into The Village,” she said.
According to Gott, the “Cornerstone board will work with working with parents, professionals and service providers to identify a fair, clear and equitable process for residency.” She added that using the person-centered model, residents can use any service providers they prefer, including ETTA.
With the permit process halted for several months because the city permit office is closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Held said that the team is “looking forward to things loosening up and resuming.” Gott added the team also hopes to return to fundraising. “We had many fundraising meetings scheduled in April, but all of that changed,” she said. “I am hopeful that as things stabilize, that we will pick up where we left off.” The team currently is seeking an additional $3 million in donations before the fall.
“The Jewish community will play a key role in proving that this paradigm shift is not only a possibility, but a paragon. The neighborhood will have a prominent role in modeling the inclusion that generations of advocates in the IDD community have worked for.” — Michael Held
Gott also will be celebrating another milestone in August when her son Danny turns 27. He currently lives in his own apartment with service staff, accessed through Regional Center. “He’s very dependent for transportation,” Gott said. “If you’re not there to remind him of basic tasks, I’m not sure he’d do it. He’s a grown man that needs a lot of prompting and reminders and encouragement to stay the course.” Gott added she is inspired by the idea that Danny might live in a community like The Village, where he’ll see peers modeling independence for one another. “It’s going to help everyone living at The Village step up,” she said.
For Cornerstone, the focus is local, but the influence is national. “The intention is that The Village serve as a model on how a pioneering approach can be used in cities around the world to solve the challenge of meaningful, affordable housing for adults with disabilities,” Gott said.
The Singers are early donors to the development not only financially, but emotionally. They hope to move their daughter into The Village as soon as it’s open.
Said Jeff, “We believe the success of The Village from concept to reality will create a blueprint for other communities around the world to establish a safe and nurturing future for those with disabilities.”
For more information, contact info@thecornerstonevillage.org.
Janelle Eagle-Robles is an LA-based entertainment professional and LGBTQ Jewish activist.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.