Nashville Idd Housing Group

This is NIDDHG’s second project in the Chestnut Hill area in Nashville TN. Their first project, Divinity Friendship House at Vanderbilt, opened in 2015 and houses 11 IDD “friends” and mentors.  NIDDGH plans on making Nashville a model for other cities. They also have plans to open two more housing developments in 2017 in cooperation with Urban Housing Solutions.

An estimated one in five people living in Nashville (130,000 out of 650,000) has a disability.  Of the 130,000 people with disabilities, nearly 21,000 have an intellectual and/or developmental disability.  Unless an individual is extremely poor or extremely rich, there are few options available, and most people – three out of four – live with their families, many of whom are increasingly ill-equipped to care for their adult children as they age.

Ask any parent whose sons and daughters have IDD’s if they worry about their children’s future and they will tell you worry is the least of it.  They can’t sleep at night. Carol and Mike Greiner said, “Our son has had a dream to live on his own, and we as parents, thought it was possible, but needed some things in place to make this happen.  With the help of all these wonderful people, he is now living on his own [at Divinity Friendship House at Vanderbilt] and thriving.  We cannot thank everyone enough.”

The NIDDHG’s model provides affordable and safe housing in an interdependent setting, placing individuals with IDDs (such as ASD, Down syndrome, Traumatic Brain Injury, cerebral palsy, etc.) alongside graduate students.  The friends and students live together. 

Mission

The crisis of affordable housing, especially within metropolitan areas, is heightened for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities ("Friends"). This fragile population is growing, and because cities are unable to adequately address this problem, the Nashville IDD Housing Group was born - the creation of community stakeholders who believe that together we can make a difference. The Nashville IDD Housing Group facilitates affordable housing in an interdependent setting where friends are provided with a built-in community comprised of graduate students and other future leaders. In this environment, collaboration brings possibility: the friends teach future leaders about disability and the students provide friendship and support. Because our friends are employed, they become an active part of the community, allowing the rest of us to celebrate the many gifts they have to offer. In addition to partnering with small businesses, the Nashville IDD Housing Group partners with families, faith communities, city officials, and other community organizations to create new and innovative housing options, opportunities which otherwise would not exist. We assert that the housing needs of our friends are a matter of social justice. By working together, our friends can flourish while Nashville becomes the country's best practice city regarding housing for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Nashville IDD Housing Group, NIDDGH has launched this crowd funding campaign to facilitate its second affordable housing project for individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDDs).  The project, which will be built in Nashville’s Chestnut Hill neighborhood in partnership with Urban Housing Solutions, is scheduled to break ground in the summer of 2016 and will provide affordable and supportive housing for 20.