High Spirit East Community Inc (High Spirit East)

When kids age out of the school system there is no guarantee of residential or day program placement. In fact, in Massachusetts alone, 172,392 are isolated living at home with aging parents. As a first step we are looking to our friends and community to help us solve this problem.

Who we are

High Spirit East Community is founded by parents raising adult children living with disabilities to build an integrated day and residential community. We have worked hard to surround our children with love and opportunities to grow by accessing high quality support services from our local school systems, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Problem

The coverage under the ADA only extends until the day before our children's 22nd birthday when they "age out" of school. At that point they lose all the essential services they had been receiving since they were 5 including adaptive education, vocational training and needed therapies and just as important - their community of peers. One day they are in school with friends, a community that understands and appreciates them, activities, and opportunities to grow; the next day all that is gone. Even worse, the scary truth is, that there are not enough residential and day support programs to go around.

Family Impact

Advocates, such as the Arc of Massachusetts, estimate that a backlog of up to 3,000 Massachusetts adults are waiting for a placement in these much-needed day programs. Many day programs currently are understaffed with a ratio of 1 staff to 8 people with disabilities. Even worse, there are an estimated 172,392 adults with disabilities living at home being cared for by family because they are unable to live independently.

The population has outgrown the available infrastructure. The strain on existing programs is high and leads to poor outcomes including loss of skills, physical and cognitive decline, undue burden on overtaxed caregivers, and at its worst neglect, injury, and even abuse of our most vulnerable citizens.

Our Solution:

With "fire in the belly" we are working efficiently and relentlessly to change the status quo to build an integrated residential and day program that solves these problems for the adults living with disabilities that need support and their careers. This model can be replicated. We are already working to extend this model to other groups.

Our first goal is to raise $100,000 to expand our day program.

CALL TO ACTION: If 100 people each donate $1,000, we can have our pilot in place by early 2025. Would you be able to donate $1,000 or more? Or, whatever you can donate would be greatly appreciated.

What we have already accomplished:

1) We have a strategy and detailed plans to set up and run our community.

2) We obtained our non-profit 501(c)(3) status on January 9th, 2024 allowing us to accept tax-deductible donations and we received our certification from Massachusetts to be registered as a charitable organization - allowing us to raise funds in our state.

3) We have researched state law and are prepared to comply with the many regulations that apply.

4) We have run a Saturday afternoon recreation program called "The Clubhouse" for almost a year to ensure these young adults have more opportunities to see each other and be seen (check out the pictures on our website!).

5) Our band of parents have not only fire in the belly but solid professional experience to ensure our success including financial, legal, human resources, special education, and organizational development acumen.

6) We have an agency who will allow us to accept state and federal funds for young adults who want to live in our community and attend our Community Based Day Service.

Your donation will make it possible to build our community.

To learn more visit https://www.highspiriteast.org or e-mail [email redacted]