CASS Housing, Inc.

CASS Housing is a privately funded nonprofit organization that creates customized housing and support solutions for adults with intellectual disabilities. As we have launched our first four homes, three key issues for our Core Members (residents with disabilities) have been uncovered. 1. Employment-only 34% of people with I/DD have a job. 2. Access and working knowledge of healthy foods. This is a key issue for the disability community. 3. Meaningful days. There are 168 hours in a week and playing video games or watching TV for 80 of them is highly detrimental. In May 2021, we're launching CASS Gardens, a innovative employment program that uses converted shipping containers for vertical hydroponic gardening (freightfarms.com). The interest in both the jobs created by our first two containers, as well as the community interest in the produce, has FAR surpassed our wildest hopes. We are currently fundraising for a 15 container expansion that would create 40-50 new positions for adults with disabilities and 5-10 support staff. The funds would be used to support this expansion. We believe that the marriage between innovative housing and innovative employment will forever change the landscape of what is available for adults with intellectual disabilities.

"What's going to happen to my child when I can no longer care for them or when I pass away?" Having been asked this question by nearly 100 families and seeing that the Medicaid waiver system that supports people with disabilities is fundamentally broken and underfunded, my wife and I couldn't sit on the sidelines any longer. A new system, that wasn't dependent on government funding, needed to be developed. A system that would be able to support people across different ability levels and settings. A system that looked a whole lot more like a tech startup in terms of growth and scale than a traditional human services organization. From that place, CASS Housing was born.

According to state and national statistics, there are approximately 7500 people living in Allen County (Fort Wayne, Indiana) with an intellectual disability. This group of people make up about 2% of the entire population (approximately 16% have a developmental disability). Yet, the state is only providing 24 hour support to about 850 individuals. 

Everyday, there are more people in a long-term care crisis. We need to grow as fast as we can, as big as we can, as *smartly* as possible.

We are trying to change the conversation of what's available to people with intellectual disabilities as whole people. What does proper housing look like? How can "disability" be used as a competitive advantage in the workforce? What does transportation look like for a group, that as a whole, doesn't drive? 

While I do not have specific statistics to back this up, nearly all organizations that support individuals with disabilities receive government funding for on-going support. While this position is understandable and needed, the premise of CASS has always been, how can we surgically inject privately funded dollars into a broken system in order to stabilize long-term support?

The CDC estimates 1 in 6 (17%) children have a developmental disability (54 million Americans if overlaid on the entire population). This means that these individuals are not hitting certain developmental milestones and these disabilities are expected to last a lifetime. Approximately, 2% of the population has an intellectual disability-scoring less than 70 on a IQ test. This is approximately 6+ million Americans.

CASS is approaching all aspects of human services in a non-profit, scalable, sustainable business model.

-CASS has been 100% privately funded to date. We have received nearly $3.5M in donations since 2016 and have over $4M in assets.

-Fundamentally, our only financial competitors are for-profit landlords to rent to people with disabilities.

-We will be offering a full continuum of support for individuals who are able to live semi-independently to those who need 24/7 support.

-We offer different location options: scattered site, small community, and neighborhood settings.

-We are utilizing Impact Investing from our families to grow more quickly. We have secured over $400,000 in 0% loans between 20-30 years. This model can be extended to foundations, businesses, and other philanthropically minded community members.

-CASS Gardens is a program and social enterprise of CASS Housing. By being driven by our Core Members, this new revenue stream will help sustain operations and scale the housing side of the organization.

As an organization, our charge is to fill the gaps. This organization started, and will always be guided, by the need for affordable housing for people with intellectual disabilities. But the story doesn't end there. What's the proper support system/network in order to help the Core Members make the most important and difficult hurdle of their lives? How can we develop independent living skills? Is there a way to reimagine employment and transportation?

If there is universal agreement that the old systems are broke, we have to try new things. We couldn't be more proud of the progress we've made, but we're not done yet. We never will be.

From two different mothers:

"Six years ago, I thought it was probably all a wishful dream, but you've proven anything is possible. And I have found over the last 4 weeks, while I might be missed, I am no longer needed, and it's a relief for the future. She has done amazingly well." -KM

"I think this best describes her feelings: I asked her, “K, if a friend offered to take you home, where would you tell them to take you?' 'To my apartment. That’s home.'" -GD