By JON WILCOX jon@appenmedia.com
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Parents give everything for their developmentally disabled children, but they worry about the future.
Tammy Miller and Beth Burns, Cumming adoptive mothers of children with special needs, said that thought kept them up at night. So, they set out to find a solution.
“We wonder what’s going to happen to them, and that’s where the real passion behind this is,” Miller said. “It’s making sure our kids are cared for for the rest of their lives.”
Burns and Miller founded the Keystone Village nonprofit with the aim of one day meeting that need.
Six years later, their children, who are now adults, finally have a solution. At a Dec. 4 meeting, the Forsyth County Commission approved changes to zoning conditions bringing Keystone Village one step closer to fruition. The 90-resident project will provide affordable long-term residency and care for adults with intellectual and developmental needs.
The need for such a center is enormous within Forsyth County, Burns said. A needs survey conducted by the women indicated several hundred who said they were interested in it.
“It really has been like an incredible ride,” Burns said. “We’ve had so many doors that have opened to us. We’ve had so many wonderful things happen.”
Located off Ga. 400 at Settingdown Road, the project will include more than 76,000 square feet.
Burns and Miller hope Keystone will provide much-needed long-term stability and quality of life in a community where providers are increasingly expensive and hard to find.
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A community center will feature meeting rooms for residents, counselors and family members, and spaces for socializing, dining, exercise, arts and crafts, indoor recreation, laundry, gatherings and various other activities.
Living units will support residents with varying needs.
Independent living residences are intended for those with mild service needs. Supportive living homes cater to those with moderate service needs who often have physical challenges and may require direct personal support or rehabilitative services.
The long-term service and support unit is for residents who have profound disabilities that limit their physical or cognitive abilities to perform self-care and require daily help. Those residents also often need supervision and around-the-clock monitoring.
The facility will include outdoor walking paths.
The center aims to enrich residents’ lives through activities there and in the community at large. A partnership with Creative Enterprises, a local nonprofit that connects participants with services, employment and activities, has helped the effort.
“They provide all kinds of activities for them to do, not only on the campus, but off the campus,” Burns said. “They take them out for meals. They take them for shopping. They teach them life skills.”
After acquiring its land through a donation by developer The Pacific Group, Keystone Village will need to raise an additional $17 million to realize its vision, Burns said. Already, the nonprofit has attracted considerable donations, an indication of how the community recognizes the need it will fulfill.
The organization hopes to meet its goal through grants and donations from businesses and residents. They soon hope to debut a campaign asking 100 businesses to donate $100 each month for a year.
“It’s really a vote of confidence for what we’re doing and who we’re doing it for,” Burns said. “I just think there’s so many people in this community that see the need.”
As the project nears its final stretch, Burns said she sees the story of Keystone’s creation as one of faith and a community coming together to care for its most in need residents.
“We call it a mission because honestly we prayerfully took all these children in and felt like we wanted to serve God,” Burns said. “We felt like God was saying to us, ‘I’ve got another project for you.’ That’s how Keystone was born.”
