MOUNT OLIVE TWP. – Four women with developmentally disabilites from the area will soon have a new home thanks to the parents of a young woman with Down syndrome and a statewide advocacy organization.
And while the new home is no doubt a God-send to the four women, an estimated 8,000 other people with disabilities who cannot live independently remain on a waiting list for group housing that is expected to last for another 15 years.
The newest group home in Harmony Township is under the auspices of Advancing Opportunities, formerly known as Cerebral Palsy of New Jersey, with its northern office in Budd Lake. It is the organization’s sixth group home in the region, serving 41 residents. The first home opened in Randolph in August 2002 while others have opened in Roxbury, Parsippany, Emerson and Demarest.
The latest home was named in honor of Melissa Gentle, a 37-year-old woman with Down syndrome. An open house to celebrate the completion of the home was held on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
Valerie Weber, residential coordinator at the Advancing Opportunities Budd Lake office, said the opening comes four years after Gentle’s parents first began seeking support for a new group home for their daughter.
The residents range in age from 28 to 60 and have varying degrees of disabilities, though none require constant one to one support.
