Autistic man first to receive house from Habitat for Humanity

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Dear Families and Friends:

I wanted to share with everyone this truly inspiring article. Great example of community collaboration.

Congratulations to !!

Heidi Fernandez Parent and Advocate "Knowledge is Power" "To the world, you may be one person, but to one person, you may be the world."

Autistic man first to receive house from Habitat for Humanity By a Hinton, ahintonnashvillecitypaperJuly 10, 2006When was diagnosed with autism and mental retardation, doctors told his parents, and Olga, that the outlook was bleak for their baby son. They recommended putting in a group home, and that someday he might - at best - toil in a sheltered workshop. "We basically said, 'Over our dead bodies.' We promised we'd do the best we could for as long as we could and devote all our resources to get the best services and things he needed," said. ' parents kept true to that early promise. They fought to get and keep their son in a public school with the resources he required, with his disabilities, to learn. And, , now 25, recently signed the mortgage to his very own recently built house. "[] is so excited. It really is a dream come true. He

's just elated," said. "He [had] a little calendar where he [marked] off every day until the move. And when he [came] out to see the house, there [was] always a big grin on hisface, and he [would tell] everyone, 'I am moving in here.'"The three-bedroom house was built for through a special collaboration between the Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity and Home of Your Own, a partnership forged by The Arc of son County and The Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee to provide affordable homes for people with disabilities. ' house, with its beige siding and blue shutters, is the first house to be given by Nashville's Habitat for Humanity to a person with ' kind of developmental disabilities. And, it sits on a cul-de-sac in Providence Park, the city's first contiguous all-Habitat neighborhood and one of the largest in the U.S. McCarthy, the CEO of the Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity, said her organization will work to help build mo

re homes for people like . "It's a true blessing that we are able to get this home built for ," McCarthy said. "We'd be thrilled to participate in any way. Every hardworkingAmerican should be able to have a home." will live in the house on his own with the assistance of a house companion, a trained professional who serves as a kind of personal assistant, helping him with daily personal maintenance and chores like cooking, dressing and folding laundry.While the house is a gift in ' eyes, it spells practicality to his parents. It is a solution that has proved to be cheaper, safer and more convenient. "He's been living in a rental house for a couple of years now because it wouldn't be fair for his neighbors if he lived in a duplex or an apartment. People with autism tend to have behavior problems like screaming, banging on walls, making a lot of noise. Not many landlords will rent affordably to a person with his degree of disability. So it was hard to find a pla

ce for him to sign a lease," said. With his new 20-year mortgage (with 0 percent interest), ' monthly payments are half what he paid in rent before, said. Plus, his new house is in a quiet, safe neighborhood, whereas his previous rented house was on a major road. 's favorite aspect of the house is the covered front porch - his gateway to the ethnically and culturally diverse community around him. His neighbors include single parents, Kurdish and Ethiopian refugees and Katrina evacuees. Habitat house recipients must put approximately 450 work hours into either their house or another Habitat house."He can sit outside and talk to people as the pass by. He already knows a lot of the neighbors and people in the neighborhood. They've all taken to him. He goes around and visits them during the building [of his house]. Everyone is 's friend," said. "We cherish diversity and this is so diverse. It will be just spectacular for . Ever

yone is so into their house, the development, the neighborhood because they have their blood and sweat in it. No one takes this for granted."