Osprey Village, Inc.

Our Mission: To develop and sustain a community where developmentally disabled adults can live as independently as possible with seniors, volunteer families, and staff in service of one another.

Our Vision: OSPREY Village's goal is to change the current situation by developing a prototype “purpose-driven" intergenerational neighborhood that connects our local adults with “special needs" and their families with the surrounding community. OSPREY Village will provide a caring community environment where eligible individuals of all ages – both disabled and non-disabled – can function at their highest level of independence, in their own private living space, while enjoying opportunities for social, physical, vocational and emotional growth.

Developmentally disabled adults will have the option to live with their parents/caregivers or in an independent living unit.

Likewise, parents of adult children with disabilities (or their siblings) can live in their own home with their children or in their own housing unit with their adult child living close by. Either way they will continue to be an integral part of their child's life and have a sense of security knowing that their child will always have a safe, nurturing community in which to live, even if they are no longer here to look out for them.

Active retirees and younger families (volunteer households) who live in the neighborhood will provide diversity in age, socio-economic status, life experience, and perspective in a supportive environment. These volunteers will contribute to the well-being of individuals with developmental disabilities and their parents, and in doing so, enrich their own lives.

OSPREY Village is a local grassroots effort to develop a new paradigm for providing housing and support services for intellectually challenged and developmentally disabled adults. We will utilize the ages-old model of “neighbor helping neighbor," with volunteer families and retirees supplementing the work of paid professional staff. We intend to utilize and expand on the “Intergenerational Community as Intervention" (ICI) model that has been developed and implemented for over 20 years by the Generations of Hope Community in Champaign, Illinois. (Website: http://www.generationsofhope.org/corporation/)

At the end of 2017, we received a donation of 25 acres of buildable land from the master developer of a 7300 acre planned development located in Hardeeville, Jasper County, SC. The boulevard going back to our property is now under construction and should be completed by the end of October, 2019. We anticipate initial groundbreaking and permitting will begin in 2020, with our first residences ready for move-in in 2021.

The overall cost of caring for persons with developmental disabilities can be lowered when the community becomes part of the intervention. However, we recognize that persons with disabilities can have high service needs; therefore, in addition to volunteers, a range of paid professional services will be coordinated between the neighborhood and the broader community. Special attention will be paid to developing independent living skills that will enable adults with IDD to achieve their greatest capabilities by growing both individually and in their relationships with neighbors.

Community involvement in OSPREY Village, especially by relatives, non-related families, social services agencies, seniors and retirees is a critical factor in its success, both financially and lifestyle-wise. The OSPREY Village neighborhood will be an asset to and an integral part of the surrounding community, a normal neighborhood (not an “enclave" or an institutional setting) that is full of activities and events drawing participation from families, youth and retirees from around the area.

We have a dedicated and passionate Board of Directors that includes several "founding families" as well as current and retired professionals with expertise in finance, land planning, education, business management, marketing, and social services. Our Executive Director is the retired director of programs for the developmentally disabled in the state of Ohio.

Osprey Village was approved as a Qualified Service Provider by the SC Dept. of Developmental Disabilities (DDSN) in early 2016. We launched our initial Respite Care services in December of 2016, and we began providing Individual Employment Support services in January 2017. We are the ONLY qualified service provider for these services in Beaufort or Jasper County. As of March 2019, we have three full-time service personnel serving over 20 clients, with many more potential clients requesting services. We anticipate hiring more full-time service personnel by the end of the year, although funding to cover their salaries is an issue since the state's Medicaid reimbursement rate for these services is well below what we have to pay our personnel in order to retain them.

We have also partnered with a number of human service organizations and alliances in our area, and we led the founding of the Beaufort County Disabilities Coalition to bring together local service agencies and businesses to collaborate and coordinate our efforts. We are in discussions with state and local government officials to form a public/private partnership that would enable us to serve more people at a lower cost with better outcomes.

We started our Osprey Village Thrift Store in April, 2011, in order to provide operational funds for our future “neighborhood with a purpose" to support developmentally disabled adults and their caregivers in the Bluffton and Hilton Head area. The store is open Monday – Saturday and is staffed mostly by volunteers. We opened a second store called "Osprey Village Thrift on Main" on Hilton Head Island in March 2017 and also added offices and meeting space for our staff, clients and board members there.

Several of our potential future residents are working as volunteers at our Thrift Stores along with many retirees from nearby Sun City Hilton Head.

We are well in to completion of Phase II and received a donation of ~25 acres of buildable land in City of Hardeeville by a national housing developer in December 2017. They see our "neighborhood with a purpose" concept as an attractive complement to their plans for a larger development of over 9300 home sites.

We have provided all necessary documentation to the SC Housing Trust Fund and have been approved as a "Designated NonProfit" organization deemed "eligible" for funding through their programs. Once the property has been obtained, we will finalize our project plans, contract with an architect and general contractor, and submit our certified plans for financing approval.

Our Thrift Store is providing ongoing monthly revenue to help cover our startup expenses and several future residents are going through job training there. We have met with the state Director of DHHS and briefed him on our plans and programs, and he has his staff working on implementation ideas in order to fund our future operations as a new initiative for providing these services as a prototype for future developments.

In addition, the SC legislature has awarded us $200,000 in three separate annual "provisos" to assist us in startup costs to provide services, including hiring an experienced Executive Director and Director of Operations. We began rolling out services to clients in late 2016 and have been deluged by requests for Respite Care and Independent Employment Support services, which we are gradually staffing and begin to fulfill.