Rockdale County residents and members of the community cut the ribbon in front of the community center on Tuesday. (Marlon Hyde/WABE)
A new housing development east of Atlanta seeks to house people with developmental disabilities in a community with professionals like teachers and first responders.
Community members held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, with residents set to begin moving in next month.
Inaugural tenant Bethany Beech smiles from ear to ear as she shows off her new apartment at Soaring Heights in Conyers.
“I like it … and I’m looking forward to living in this apartment,” the 34 year-old said.
Bethany Beech posing next to a dedication plaque honoring her life outside of her new apartment. (Marlon Hyde/WABE)
All 20 apartments in the Rockdale County community are ADA-accessible, designed for Georgia residents with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) such as Beech, who has Down Syndrome.
According to the website, the apartment facility strives to provide an independent living option with support services and resources for adults with developmental disabilities and for all residents to utilize their time and gifts to engage in the community they reside in.
“If you are blessed to be a parent of an IDD person, you come to understand they have hopes and dreams and aspirations like everybody else,” said Jeff Beech, Bethany’s father, who also serves on the housing community board. “They enjoy being at home, but many of them want to be able to exercise some level of independence.”
Data from a 2022 study shows that there are about 240,000 Georgians who are caregiving families that are supporting someone with ID/DD in the state.
“Having previously worked as a special education teacher, I love seeing a place where our adults with developmental disabilities can grow and live independently,” said Michelle Stevens, the chief human resources officer for Rockdale County Public Schools. “That’s not always very easy for them.”
The other half of Soaring Heights will be dedicated to affordable housing for professionals like teachers, firefighters and police officers, helping to build a supportive community around the new residents.
“We thought, well, if we could bring those folks in and offer them housing that would be affordable for them based on their level of compensation that we would be helping to solve an issue,” said the elder Beech, who says the goal is to attract people in these important but underpaid professions to the neighborhood.
The $8 million project was supported through several public and private partnerships, and he says that he hopes to see the continuations of this model soar.
“The reason why we named this Soaring Heights communities [is] because we want one in South Georgia. We want one up in North Georgia. We want one in South Carolina and Massachusetts,” he added. “The need for housing for our IDD population is enormous, and we want to encourage other communities.”
