From Cleveland Jewish News
By: Lydia Kacala
About 10 years ago, Ara and Leslie Bagdasarian, founders of Solon Community Living, came up with the idea to create a new model of residential housing for people with disabilities.
Overall, its goal is to create a new housing model so people with disabilities have an easier time finding housing, Logan Andress, community director of Solon Community Living, told the Cleveland Jewish News July 10.
Leslie and Ara Bagdasarian, founders of Solon Community Living, share their vision for the 14 homes that will make up the community at Solon Community Living’s groundbreaking event in July 2023.
“People with disabilities have some of the most difficult housing markets of anyone because there’s income limits, Medicaid limits, governing bodies – all of these things that play into it,” Andress said. “We think the idea and the community here can be a new model for services to be provided to a lot of different people.”
Today, the nonprofit has completed phase one of construction and is slowly transitioning the first eight people to live in its homes, he said. Five have already moved in after taking legal possession July 1, and the last three are in a transition period.
In November 2021, Solon City Council accepted the community’s bid to purchase the land, which was rezoned in 2020 to a new R-3-C multi-family residential special needs district.
Phase one of its construction began in June 2023, and consisted of building the first eight homes, Andress said. The completed residential living center will have 14 homes, with six homes that include a caregiver suite on the second floor.
The caregiver suites are meant to provide affordable housing for resident assistants and ensure those living in the community have extra support if an emergency were to happen at nighttime, Emma Van Winkle, resident assistant, told the CJN July 10. The role of a resident assistant is one-third administrative work, one-third being a “direct caregiver” and one-third “cruise ship director,” Andress added.
While some residents don’t need assistance and live independently, there are some residents who require help for a few hours a day and some who need help 24/7, Van Winkle said. Resident assistants also plan activities and small events to help get residents more involved and active.
“We put on activities and hopefully help get them more engaged in the community itself,” Van Winkle said. “Inclusion is something that I’ve been wanting to focus on as my role of finding different ways to help get residents included into the rest of the community, and the community also engaged with us … so that they (residents) feel that they’re not just living here, but are also working with everyone else to help the community grow.”
Resident assistants and other administrators work to ensure the residents have a personalized experience within the community, with their day-to-day schedule looking different for each person, Van Winkle said. Some residents have jobs outside of the facility or other activities they might want to do, so there isn’t a strict schedule.
Since its first groundbreaking ceremony on June 7, 2023, the Solon community has been unlike anything Andress has seen in his 20 years of experience, he said.
“Solon has been wildly different from anything I’ve experienced in my career,” he said. “It’s been so welcoming. It’s been so gracious and … the response from the community has just been incredibly positive.”
Phase two of construction, which involves building the final six homes, began July 18, with a groundbreaking ceremony, Andress said. The construction is planned to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.
