SEPTEMBER 2017 

Dear Friends,

This has been a busy summer for us. Membership has grown, new directors were appointed, the website was improved, and a comprehensive strategy for housing was articulated. We hope you are satisfied with our progress. Thanks to the many who have worked to make this possible. 
 
Memberships
Since we began less than three years ago, we now have close to 300 families and interested supporters on our mailing list. There are over 285 children and adults with special needs represented who can prosper in the sorts of communities we are working to create. Thanks for being part of our efforts. 
 
Community Building
Community outreach is important: we can only help people who know about us. Please tell other parents about our work, if you think they or their children might benefit. Our intention is to provide you with useful information and possible options. To this end, we have improved our website and are implementing a Facebook page and public Facebook Group. Look for an announcement of these pages in upcoming newsletters. We are holding regular meetings with families to present our ideas. Our next meeting will be at 2pm on September 10th, at St. Mary's College High School, 1294 Albina Avenue, Albany. Please come, learn about our ideas, and meet our directors, volunteers and other families.
Meet our two new members of Living Unlimited's Board of Directors:
Stephen Prutsman, professional musician and leader in the Bay Area special needs community who serves on several autism related boards.
Diana Willard, nurse with decades of caregiving experience among those with special needs in Europe and the US, including serving as nurse at Camp Krem for one summer.
Our Housing Strategy
We are focusing on three housing options for our Living Unlimited Communities:
  • Intentional (mostly rural) properties
  • Clustered (mostly suburban) single-family homes
  • Multi-unit (suburban and urban) apartments, converted motels or assisted living homes
When families band together, "many hands make light the load" and resources can be pooled to provide the funding that makes Living Unlimited Community management possible. For more info visit www.living-unlimited.org and if you haven't done so already, fill out LU's Online Registration Questionnaire.
Clearwater Ranch Cloverdale: We are currently in contract to purchase and are accepting applications to fill 20–24 openings at prices between $205,000 to $250,000 per family. We are working on financing. This property consists of 84 rolling acres in Sonoma County's Alexander Valley wine country, with nine homes, 35 bedrooms, commercial kitchen, gymnasium and shallow swimming pool, all bordering a large reserve. See more here. In the past year, over 40 families have toured Clearwater Ranch with us and about half have expressed interested. The next visit is Sunday September 17 from noon to 3. Afterward we usually meet up downtown to discuss the possibilities. You are all cordially invited to attend. If planning to attend, please drop us a line at Susan@living-unlimited.org. Such ready-made properties are rare, and we are excited to pursue this as our first endeavor.
Petaluma Possibility: An LU family is working with the seller of a 2.3-acre property in suburban Petaluma that has five small homes and three duplexes on a private cul-de-sac. The vision is to expand and substantially improve the single-family homes. If a prospect such as this interests you, please drop us a line at Susan@living-unlimited.org.
Pinole Pursuit: If you visited one of our informational meetings and indicated your interest in our Clustered Home Concept, you will soon receive an email describing this property in Pinole that could be an "anchor home" on 3.4 acres with many homes backed up to the property that could be purchased as they become available. We are currently looking for LU family members who would like to take the lead on this project. If interested, drop us a line at Susan@living-unlimited.org.
Here's a visual to show the property lines and how big the property is.
Money, Honey...

Living Unlimited's expenses are modest, and all directors and volunteers are happy to work for free. We still, however, have expenses related to our work. If you like what we are doing and want to help defer our costs, please visit us in a generous moment at www.living-unlimited.org/donate/ . Every bit helps.
 
Wishing you the very best for a lovely autumn and thereafter.
We hope to see you soon.