A ribbon cutting and open house took place Monday at an East Peoria home that has served individuals with developmental disabilities since December.
The Tazewell County Resource Center’s newest community integrated living arrangement is located at 515 Cottonwood Circle.
It can accommodate up to six developmentally disabled individuals. Currently, there are five individuals who call the new facility home.
According to Molly Anderson, vice president of residential services at TCRC, it is far more than merely a roof over the occupant’s heads.
“There are a lot of individuals with developmental disabilities who need housing in the area,” Anderson said. “This home can keep them in the area, near their families.”
The home is open to those from all over the state, but the majority of the residents are from the area.
“There is a sense of community when they’re living with their peers instead of with their families or in an institution,” Anderson said. “They are living in the community and working in the community.”
In 2007, TCRC was one of four organizations in the state to receive a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grant, worth $600,000, was used to build the six-bedroom, two-bathroom, handicap-accessible ranch-style home.
Residents have access to private bedrooms, an individual storage closet, wheelchair accessible sinks and counter tops, roll-in showers, a concrete path surrounding the house, transportation and a gathering room for residents to interact and relax.
TCRC president and CEO, Ron Hale, said the home has provided employment in a time when jobs are scarce.
Hale added TCRC hired locally for the construction of the home, which began in May 2009. The home now employs the equivalent of six-and-a-half full-time jobs.
“In this poor economy, we’ve actually had the opportunity to hire people,” Hale said.
Hale also said the Cottonwood house saves the state about $400,000 each year. The average cost to provide care to each resident living in the house is $45,000 a year, compared to about $120,000, which is the price the state pays to provide the necessary care to an individual in an institution.
“It is very cost efficient and cost effective for the state of Illinois,” Hale said.
Residents have to meet the Department of Human Services requirements of developmentally handicapped, as well as the income requirements from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
TCRC has three adult facilities in East Peoria, and two adult-serving and one children’s group home in Pekin.
For more information on TCRC or its residential living, visit www.tcrcorg.com.
