Lansing Intentional Communities Inc

LINCS is pleased to announce  . . .

We have been selected by the Gannett Foundation, along with non-profits  from across the country, to participate in their "A Community Thrives" fundraising platform.   They have already seen the value in our "A MISSING LINC" project, which seeks to purchase property to complete our intentional community for intellectually and developmentally disabled adults in Lansing, Michigan.  We will be eligible for larger grants  through the Foundation if we meet our fundraising goal  over the next few weeks.  Your donation is crucial to our success. 

Lansing Intentional Communities:  Building Community

Where do adults with disabilities live?   What do they do and where do they go when they hang out with friends?  If they have autism or another intellectual or developmental disability (ID/DD), the answers are typically “at home with their parents” and “they don’t really have any friends.”  Unfortunately, opportunities for young adults with ID/DD to live independent, self-determined lives are rare and once they leave the public school system, their built in social structure often self-destructs.  Building lasting relationships is difficult. Keeping them is even harder!  Most young adults with ID/DD lead lonely lives, virtually isolated from their peers and community.

Our pilot housing community in the Eastfield neighborhood of Lansing, Michigan, provides community-based independent living within a supportive group of peers.  Residents rent safe, comfortable and affordable, housing in a welcoming neighborhood.  With support from their families, friends, caregivers and neighbors, they make important decisions for themselves, lead rewarding and fulfilling lives and build meaningful, lasting relationships with fellow residents, neighbors and members of the larger community. The “MISSING LINC” that makes this rich community work is the “Community Builder” (CB).  Like a college RA, they bring  support, security and community building skills to the Community. They also help the LINCS members explore the Greater Lansing community through both structured and impromptu events.  This added support system, allowing residents to succeed at living independently AND giving them a true sense of belonging, is what makes LINCS stand out.

 Here’s where you can help!  

In this campaign we are fundraising for a down payment on a new house for the Community Builder to live within the LINCS community.  So far, they have been providing support to residents just a few hours a week.  Our goal is to provide housing within the Community that will allow the CB  to live close by and bring them fully into the circle of residents—as a friend, supporter and neighbor.  Their nearby presence will give our residents greater access to supports, increase their sense of security and greatly enhance opportunities to socialize and develop relationships, both inside and outside the LINCS Community.  This on-site Community Builder is the “MISSING LINC” that completes the Community.  

 We’ve been building our intentional Community “Linc by Linc.”  Help us complete the circle and put the “MISSING LINC” in place.  An on-site Community Builder completes our pilot community in Eastfield and prepares us to begin replicating this model throughout the Greater Lansing region.  Your donation, no matter how big or small, gets us closer to that goal!

DON'T DELAY.  DONATE TODAY!  

To be eligible for more community grants from the Gannett Foundation, we must meet our goal by October 16th!