All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes, and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people. And the Lord added to their number daily those were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47
714 will be like this…
People will live in harmony and give up things to help each other. They will eat together with glad and sincere hearts. They will be of one heart. We will worship God together and tell people of His Love.
What is the dream for 714 Joy?
● Inclusive Living - People with disabilities living alongside people without disabilities. Relationships will be mutually supportive, helpful, and beneficial. We will be living life the way God intended it to be.
● Community Involvement - Partners in the community will be present. That may be through donations, living there, or providing services and activities for residents. The hope is that this facility will help the community we live in to be more accepting, friendly, and really understand the value people with special needs bring to this world.
● Residents without special needs - Typical residents will have reduced rent and a time commitment. To really gain the benefit of living with someone with a disability you need to be ENGAGED.
Residents will be interviewed and selected by a small group of people. They need to be upstanding, energetic, patient and loving people.
● Residents with special needs - There will be different levels of housing available to residents from full immersion in inclusion, to residents with special needs living together with assistance, to living independently in a studio. Residents need to work jobs or be contributing to society in some way (volunteering, activities, etc.). The goal is for them to be as independent as possible! 714 Joy will not provide care services, just the place.
○ 714 Joy will offer opportunities for growth (class about nutrition, cooking, life skills, boundaries, jobs skills etc)
● Transition - As ability and comfort level grow residents will have the option to move to more independent living, maybe having less or a more permanent roommate.
● Location - Ideally, the location will be in Carmel within walking distance of a grocery store and restaurants or other community places that the residents can use.
● Building/ Campus - The dream is to have a complex with 50 -100 units, varying in bedroom sizes. Some of the apartments will be adapted extremely well for wheelchair accessibility, the whole place would be wheelchair accessible though. The facility to have a large community space for residents to gather, ideally with a kitchen (for cooking classes). Also ideally we would have at least a small workout area, a pool and a basketball court.
● Funding - Funding will come from personal/corporate donors and the rent that the residents pay.
● Staff - There will be staff that will help support all residents, but residents that need full-time support will need to hire their own staff.
● Activities - The apartment will put on a lot of activities, like class (cooking, life skills, etc.) or just fun social events.
What are we currently?
We are currently a diverse group of 25 people that meets on a weekly basis to dive into the word of God and learn skills for independent living. We are making moves towards our vision of building a home and community.