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New Danville offers new hope
  
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By Lucretia Cardenas
WILLIS – At the age of 21 most women are starting their careers, but doing so for Amanda Hogan is a challenge.
All she wants is a place to work, socialize and belong.
Hogan is a mentally challenged adult from Hunstville. She joined several other mentally challenged adults Thursday at New Danville, located five miles north of Willis, with the hope the self-sufficient community now under construction will be what she’s been seeking.
Hogan’s mother, Martha Cornstubble, couldn’t hide her enthusiasm about New Danville during a tour of the miniature horse barn and the grounds where houses and employment and entertainment opportunities will be built.
“We’re just trying to find a place where she can be accepted and learn,” Cornstubble said. “There are just not enough places like this for people like Amanda.”
New Danville is different, said Kathy Sanders, who spearheaded the project because she wants a community where her autistic son, Jimmy, can live with other mentally challenged adults.
“We want to get them in the workforce, but in a workforce that is an uncompetitive environment,” Sanders told a room full of parents and prospective residents. “They will have real jobs, but we are an insulated community where we understand them. If it takes them longer to fold a napkin, it takes them longer.”
By next spring or summer, 14 residential buildings are expected to be constructed on New Danville’s 42-acre site off Shepard Hill Road. The groundbreaking is Oct. 3.
Several other building will be erected in the next year or two to provide additional work opportunities and public interaction. Handmade soaps, handcrafted woodwork and a commercial kitchen and bakery will offer residents opportunities to interact with the public and sell their wares.
In three years, construction of a “downtown,” complete with a grocery store, beauty salon and a movie theater are planned.
“The goal is to bring people to Danville and make it a destination,” Sanders said.
The next tour of New Danville for prospective residents is Oct. 16. For more information, visit www.newdanville.org or call (936) 522-7279.
New Danville
For more information about New Danville, visit www.newdanville.org or call (936) 522-7279.
All she wants is a place to work, socialize and belong.
Hogan is a mentally challenged adult from Hunstville. She joined several other mentally challenged adults Thursday at New Danville, located five miles north of Willis, with the hope the self-sufficient community now under construction will be what she’s been seeking.
Hogan’s mother, Martha Cornstubble, couldn’t hide her enthusiasm about New Danville during a tour of the miniature horse barn and the grounds where houses and employment and entertainment opportunities will be built.
“We’re just trying to find a place where she can be accepted and learn,” Cornstubble said. “There are just not enough places like this for people like Amanda.”
New Danville is different, said Kathy Sanders, who spearheaded the project because she wants a community where her autistic son, Jimmy, can live with other mentally challenged adults.
“We want to get them in the workforce, but in a workforce that is an uncompetitive environment,” Sanders told a room full of parents and prospective residents. “They will have real jobs, but we are an insulated community where we understand them. If it takes them longer to fold a napkin, it takes them longer.”
By next spring or summer, 14 residential buildings are expected to be constructed on New Danville’s 42-acre site off Shepard Hill Road. The groundbreaking is Oct. 3.
Several other building will be erected in the next year or two to provide additional work opportunities and public interaction. Handmade soaps, handcrafted woodwork and a commercial kitchen and bakery will offer residents opportunities to interact with the public and sell their wares.
In three years, construction of a “downtown,” complete with a grocery store, beauty salon and a movie theater are planned.
“The goal is to bring people to Danville and make it a destination,” Sanders said.
The next tour of New Danville for prospective residents is Oct. 16. For more information, visit www.newdanville.org or call (936) 522-7279.
New Danville
For more information about New Danville, visit www.newdanville.org or call (936) 522-7279.
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drivermom wrote on Sep 26, 2008 5:39 PM: