‘Is it built yet?’ When they hear about BelongKC apartments, enthusiasm is high

A new residential community for those with intellectual and develobupmental disabilities is starting to take shape in Olathe, courtesy of BelongKC. The organization has purchased 3.2 acres for the project at 11501 S. Ridgeview Road.

Clients of BelongKC are offered the support they need to live independently in apartments. That help can come in the form of employment, transportation, socialization and daily living skills.

It’s a program of Inclusion Connections, a nonprofit that already provides a lot of those services, but not in a residential environment.

“There’s a tremendous need. In some cases, there’s years-long waiting lists to even get in a group home,” said Debbie Horn, executive director at Inclusion Connections.

Both professionally and personally, Horn understands the situation parents are facing.

“A lot of us are aging parents. We’re in our 60s and oftentimes consumed with thoughts of what would happen to my child if something happens to me,” Horn said.

She sees BelongKC as a step beyond the traditional group home route for individuals who want or need to move out of their parents’ homes.

“We’re trying to move the needle forward,” Horn said. “We think other options out there might create a better life and better outcomes for individuals with disabilities.”

When it’s constructed, BelongKC will have 44 residents who each have their own approximately 600-square-foot apartment. Each unit would have a small kitchen, along with a dining-living room area, a bedroom, bathroom and laundry area.

Horn likened it to what you might find in an assisted living facility and said it would be gated community. It allows for privacy, but a built-in community is at hand. In a group home, you might have a private bedroom but not a whole apartment.

Transportation will be more individualized, Horn said, so that everyone doesn’t have to go to the grocery at the same time, for example.

“We’re just going to allow for more access to the community,” Horn said.

Even before construction, 75 people are interested.

Kathy Winegar, an Olathe resident who’s also on the board of Inclusion Connections, said her son is among them.

“For my son, there aren’t many options in terms of living that enable him to do the things he enjoys doing,” Winegar said. “BelongKC would give him the transportation to work. It would provide him with multiple social opportunities.”

BelongKC purchased the land in October for $575,000, but the group is still securing funds for the rest. The land was paid for with donations, including $300,000 from United Healthcare.

The group is applying to foundations and appealing to individuals to raise the $34 million needed to pay for the entire project, including an endowment to fund the continuing costs. Horn said she hopes to break ground in 12 to 18 months and expects it will take a year to build once construction starts.

BelongKC is also open to in-kind donations of goods like appliances, carpeting and paint.

Horn has taken inspiration from a similar place in Arizona.

Locally, The Mission Project provides individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities apartments within a larger apartment complex that also has residents who are not part of that project. BelongKC is for those who can’t live quite as independently and need a little more support.

Special Olympics Kansas will lead health initiatives, such as workouts in the gym, at BelongKC. That and some other programming will also be open to people who don’t live there.

The space will also include some retail storefronts. One will house Pawsabilities, an Inclusion Connections program that teaches retail job skills through a dog treat and apparel business. Horn said a coffee shop and a place for residents to sell quilts and other handmade goods are also being considered.

“The young adults that I serve are asking me daily how much money have we raised, how much money do we need, when is it going to be built, is it built yet? They are so excited about the thought of having their own apartment,” Horn said. “They’ve all seen the building and the plans, and they’re ready. They’re just waiting on us.”