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Forty income restricted seniors will be the first to call the community concept facility home. Officials from By the River envision their housing development as a community -- encouraging residents to help each other and share their lives with fellow residents. The By the River organization created the housing development as a pilot project funded through numerous state and local donations. Hutner said if the project is a success others could replicate it throughout the nation as a way to care for the aging population. "It's all about community," Hutner said, explaining that residents are encouraged to cook for each other or help with laundry with their fellow residents who are unable to do so for themselves. The site currently consists of four residential buildings, each of which has a communal kitchen, living room and activity room. In an effort to spark intermingling between the four buildings' residents, the activity rooms differ in activity, according to Hutner. For example, the rooms are used as a library, a game room, a place for meditation, and as a chapel. And while By the River is focused on providing low income seniors with affordable housing, the foundation is also working to offer sustainability through an organic community garden that would help feed the residents. By the River is an interfaith foundation and does not require residents to subscribe to any belief in order to live there. The only requirements By the River residents must meet are that they are older than 62, lacking in at least two daily living activities - such as having low vision and needing transportation assistance - and be at 50 percent or lower of the median income for Indian River County. For more information about By the River, visit http://www.bytheriver.org/ or call (772) 388-1518. |
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