48-unit Hamilton facility to be completed by late October.
By: Ken Weingartner
WASHINGTON – Project Freedom Inc. plans to open its second independent living facility by the end of October.
Timothy Doherty, the organization’s executive director, said work on a 48-unit facility being constructed on Kuser Road in Hamilton for low-income people with disabilities should be ready by Oct. 31. The $6.3 million project will consist of eight single-story buildings on 10 acres, he said.
The facility’s apartments are designed with wider doorways for wheelchairs, lowered light switches, roll-in showers and a system of personal care attendants. The goal is to assist tenants to live as independently as possible.
"They are tenants first," Mr. Doherty said. "They come and go on their own."
The non-profit organization, founded in 1984 by Norman Smith, in 1991 constructed in Robbinsville a 30-unit apartment complex for the physically disabled.
Mr. Doherty said there are approximately 5,500 people on a state Division of the Developmentally Disabled waiting list for affordable independent housing.
He said "it was fair" to estimate that there are probably two to three times that number of people in need of barrier-free housing when those who have suffered from things such as strokes or spinal cord injuries are included.
"There are so many people who can live on their own, but there are no alternatives for them," Mr. Doherty said. "If you’re not a senior citizen, there are group homes, but that’s not the most independent way of living. Our mission is to focus on barrier-free housing. That’s what we’re trying to do."
Project Freedom is working on getting financing for a 54-unit facility in Lawrence. Mr. Doherty said there is a waiting list of approximately 170 people for the Hamilton complex.
Residents must meet income requirements to qualify for housing, Mr. Doherty said. For more information about Project Freedom and its facilities, call (609) 448-2998.