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When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills...
-Ancient Chinese Proverb
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A NOTE FROM OUR LIVING UNLIMITED
BOARD PRESIDENT
Living Unlimited (LU) has established two (2) communities for I/DD adults in Sonoma County (CRC & MCC). In addition, Living Unlimited is working with families to develop communities in the East Bay, South Bay and Sacramento areas. We host semi-regular informational presentations via Zoom and our next meetings will be:
- Wednesday March 8th - 6pm to 7pm
- Sunday March 12th - 4pm to 5pm
Email info@living-unlimited.org to receive details.
In 2022, Living Unlimited focused its efforts on supporting the current communities and families. The LU Board of Directors and Advisory Council welcomed new members to support and strengthen the organization moving forward.
In 2023, Living Unlimited aims to transition its management from the all-volunteer Board of Directors to an Executive Director along with associated staff to perform day to day management. We seek funding to support the hiring of employees and welcome donations to support our efforts.
With gratitude for your continued support,
Katie Carney
President, Living Unlimited
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Greetings from Mustang Court Commons in Petaluma
For those of you unfamiliar with Mustang Court Commons (aka MCC), it is a 5 and a half acre property on the east side of Petaluma. It is big and expansive, yet close in to a vibrant neighborhood. It is within walking distance of Safeway, Starbucks and the Petaluma campus of the Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC). On the MCC property, there are 4 young men who are already involved and 4 more spaces available for men with I/DD. Additionally, we have spaces In the nearby neighborhood for I/DD residents.
Since the large property seemed ideal for a farm, a California 501(c)3 nonprofit named Mustang Acres was created. Mustang Acres will lease land from Mustang Court Commons. Mustang Acres (which has an update later in this newsletter) is being established for the residents on site and those living in the neighborhood. It is an ideal way for these residents to engage with the local community of neighbors, schools and businesses.
We are almost finished renovating what we call the main house at MCC. Additionally, we are in the process of finalizing the building permit for an additional dwelling unit. Over the course of our construction endeavor, we have made community connections along the way and people and organizations have stepped up in generous ways. The window company Milgard sponsored our windows and sliding doors, providing us with their top-of-the-line product that have lifetime warranty and superior thermal performance. Needless to say, they look fabulous. The students from the construction department at the nearby SRJC will be installing the flooring in the houses. This will provide them with valuable experiential learning opportunities and a way for them to become more familiar with our community. Our neighbor, Sara, donated many cubic yards of compost that will go towards rejuvenating the soil on our grounds and into our raised bed planters for the growing of produce. The neighbors continue to offer us support and cheer us along the way as we make strides towards completing the MCC project.
Community is about the feeling of fellowship, gathering together for common goals and making life meaningful. If you are looking for a housing solution for an adult with I/DD and are interested in MCC and its greater community, we will be holding informational Living Unlimited Zoom presentations on Wednesday March 8th from 6pm to 7pm and another on Sunday March 12th from 4pm to 5pm to let you know about our projects. Email us at info@Living-Unlimited.org to get a Zoom invite.
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Mustang Acres
The farm is happening!
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Update from Mustang Acres
Mustang Acres continues to make connections with the community, and bring friends and families of I/DD together through our farm work day events.
This past fall, Mustang Acres was awarded a $4000 grant from Fibershed’s Carbon Farm Seed Fund grant to plant hedgerows and install irrigation. The hedgerows are plants that are planted close together along the edges of the property to serve as a green screen, windbreak and most importantly, to increase carbon sequestration through the plant’s natural process of photosynthesis.
Mustang Acres has produced its first batches of yarn! Harvested fiber from the past two sheep shearing were processed by Valley Oak Wool Mill. The yarn is a general knitters’ yarn, two-ply, worsted knitting weights. The yarn can be traced back to the sheep that produced the fiber. We have delectable cream colored yarn from Beans and Snowflake, our Finn sheep. Our white Romney sheep, Buster, Pickles and Eenie, produced the softest velvety yarn. We also have a blend of sumptuous dark grey/brown yarn from Lucy our grey Romney, Lulu our black Shetland-Finn cross, and our two Shetlands, GreenEggs and Ham. These will be available for purchase at our next farm day in Spring.
Raised beds are being built for the farm by intrepid scout, Ally, who chose to complete her Eagle Scout service project by volunteering on the farm. She has already completed two raised beds. Her final product to be presented to us will be 8 Hugelkultur raised beds filled with layers of logs, mulch, compost, and soil, that will be ready for us to plant.
Our next Farm Day will be in spring (probably late April or early May). We will be sending out an invite for you to come and see our annual sheep shearing, tour the newly renovated house at Mustang Court Commons, share food and connect with other families of children with I/DD, learn about our future plans for the farm and about Living Unlimited’s housing concept for adults with disabilities. There will be our signature Mustang Acres t-shirt for sale, yarn that came from our sheep, and hand-made crocheted sheep and llama keepsakes for purchase. More information for our annual Farm Day will be forthcoming.
If you would like to volunteer on the farm or are seeking to complete an Eagle Scout project, please contact Fiona Wong at Fiona@mustangacres.org. And do check in on us on Facebook and Instagram.
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 Clearwater Ranch
Continues to Progress...and Party!
Clearwater Ranch Community is an 84 acre ranch in Cloverdale (at the top of Sonoma County). It has the distinction of being the first Living Unlimited community established for I/DD adults. It is almost fully subscribed as of this writing, but they love to connect, so read on...
At Clearwater Ranch Community (CRC) we continue to progress. In 2023 our second house (the "Pink" house) will have 3 I/DD women moving in soon, as we are now in the final phase of securing caregiving. We have space for one more female in the "Pink" house. If you know of any other young ladies who might be interested, please contact us on our website: https://www.CRanch.net/contact.
In addition to completing the young ladies' house, we continue to gather together to grow as a community. We had a myriad of gatherings in this past year. Parties over the spring, summer, fall & winter and even a campout! We've done art classes, karaoke, movie showings and more parties. Cloverdale is a small town and we are becoming real members of the community. One of our parents even does an article about the happenings at Clearwater Ranch for the local paper.
We continue to move forward with other projects on the Clearwater site. One such project is the renovation of one of our cabins located in the area we call the Cabin Circle (there are 4 cabins total and the views are incredible!). The cabin we are renovating should be complete within the next few weeks. These cabins are quite desirable as long-term rentals or as a vacation rental option.
We are working closely with the County of Sonoma authorities (building, planning, county supervisor, etc.) to provide additional housing options at Clearwater Ranch. All are very supportive of our mission to provide long-term, safe, affordable housing for the I/DD population. CRC will provide updates as this effort progresses.
If you would like to learn more about Clearwater Ranch, please visit our website at CRanch.net. Sign up for an informational session or just come and join a party!
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Podcast on the Living Unlimited Model
Kirsten Howe of Absolute Trust Council in Walnut Creek did a podcast with one of the founders of Living Unlimited. You can check out the podcast HERE.
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What Makes People Happy?
The 85-plus year longitudinal Harvard Study of Adult Development reports that deep connections make a good & happy life. People need to feel connected with others to feel fulfilled. One way to obtain such connection is to find it in your community.
What is community? Webster's dictionary describes one definition of community as a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society. All sorts of people are allowed to live around those they feel most comfortable with. The elderly live amongst each other, some religious groups like living together, heck there are now red states and blue states where people have gone to find their community.
Strangely, however, when an I/DD individual wants to live around those he/she feels most comfortable with, those who hold the purse strings start calling his/her home an institution. Somehow a household of (4) is now considered an "institution" - REALLY?
Please consider joining organizations (usually free) that encourage and support the freedom for I/DD individuals to live wherever and with whomever they choose. Together for Choice is one such organization. You can join HERE.
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Autism Confidential
Jill Escher has done it again. She has created an amazing podcast named Autism Confidential. This podcast is quite informative and helpful for families who have children that are on the more challenging end of the autism spectrum. Check it out - you'll be surprised by how much you'll learn!
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