Introducing Autumn Hills Village

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

Autumn Hills Village will be a neurodiverse, mixed-use intentional community for approximately 100 adults with and without disabilities located in southern Kendall County, Texas. This innovative, affordable neighborhood will serve adults with a range of abilities, including adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) who have greater support needs and/or limited income and resources. Adults with disabilities will account for at least 75 percent of the residents, while the remaining will be adults without disabilities providing paid supports or living purposefully as intentional, supportive neighbors

It is a project of LTO Ventures, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Boerne, Texas that develops residential, employment, educational, and social engagement options for adults with IDD. It is the only full-service consultancy that provides consulting and project management services to help nonprofit organizations around the U.S. build their own communities. LTO Ventures presently manages 10 projects in six states. Visit www.ltoventures.org/projects. 

The Autumn Hills Village Business Model

• We plan to build market-rate For-Sale Small Homes and Townhomes for 60-75 adults with and without disabilities. The 1- and 2-story 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom homes will be organized around courtyard greenspaces in a neighborhood configuration designed for people, not cars. Indoor and outdoor amenities will enhance the community for residents, families, staff, and guests.

• We plan to build and manage two single-story Apartment Buildings with up to 12 for-lease units each to provide permanent supportive housing for individuals who have greater support needs as well as individuals who have limited income and resources and would benefit from tiered levels of rent and Community Fees.

• We plan to organize and conduct Educational and Social Programs and Outings including Transition Academies and 18-21 Programs to help adults with disabilities residing at Autumn Hills Village and in the greater community develop and improve independent living, vocational, and social skills, enjoy activities in the community, and build friendships. We will offer informational workshops that help inform and educate families of adults with disabilities about long-term planning options and resources for their sons and daughters.

• Adjacent to the residential phases we plan to build a 15,000sf Community Inclusion Center that will serve as a venue for educational programs and classes, events, and social gatherings for our residents and members of the greater community. We will partner with other nonprofits, agencies, advocacy groups, and schools that serve and support adults with IDD and their families. It also will serve as a base for Autumn Hills Village’s Educational and Social Programs and Outings.
  

Construction and Operations

We plan to develop Autumn Hills Village in southern Kendall County, Texas. The location will be set once 10+ acres of land have been acquired through donation or purchase. Funding for the estimated $18 million project will be sourced as donations received through an $8 million capital campaign to commence once land has been acquired, and $10 million in proceeds from sales of the homes.

Operations of the residential community will be funded and sustained through a Community Fee assessed monthly to all residents. Operations of the Community Inclusion Center will be funded and sustained through tuition and fees from onsite programming and rental to outside groups for a variety of uses and events. Capital enhancements and an endowment will be funded through grants and donations.

Supports and Services

Autumn Hills Village will be the owner and manager of the residential community and the Community Inclusion Center. Residents and program participants who require Direct Support Professional (DSP) supports and services to live successfully in our housing or to participate successfully in our programs will contract with their choice of service providers and pay for those supports using Texas Medicaid HCBS waiver funding and/or private pay. LTO Ventures may develop its own services agency as an option.

Autumn Hills Village staff will be primarily responsible for home sales, Community Inclusion Center rentals, programming, facilitating community culture and resident quality of life, security of residents, staff, and guests, and ensuring the common areas are well maintained. Autumn Hills Village will supplement staffing with smart home technology and volunteers.

Timeline

Autumn Hills Village presently is in its first full year of planning and fundraising with a goal to acquire land in 2024. Based on this assumption, Autumn Hills Village would launch a capital campaign in 2024 with a goal of breaking ground on site work and infrastructure as well as the Community Inclusion Center in 2026. Homes will be built as they are sold with completion of all residences by the end of 2028.

The Need is Great

Autumn Hills Village is being created to address the fact that there are far more adult residents of Texas with IDD – 188,407* – than there are safe, affordable, supportive residential settings designed to support them through their lifespans. There are more than a half-million youth up to age 17 with IDD in Texas who may begin to need supportive housing as they reach adulthood. Medicaid and Medicaid HCBS waivers provide the financial safety net for adults with disabilities, but only 7.4 percent of Medicaid LTSS recipients with IDD in Texas live in a home of their own.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of individuals with IDD live with a family caregiver, and a concerning 19% of adults with IDD in Texas are being supported by caregivers age 60 and older as of fiscal year 2021.** This particular demographic can be considered at-risk because the fact the caregivers may soon need caregiving for themselves.

LTO Ventures alone cannot build enough residences to meet the demand and we anticipate that Autumn Hills Village will have a multi-year wait list of families. Nationally, there presently are more than 300 planned communities for adults with IDD in operation, and according to the Autism Housing Network, more than 50 new communities are in development around the U.S. LTO Ventures can serve as a model for other families and nonprofits to replicate to increase the supply.

[Click here to download PDF of Executive Summary]

* In-Home and Residential Long-Term Supports and Services for Persons with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities: Status and Trends Through 2019 report produced by the Residential Information Systems Project (RISP) of the University of Minnesota

** Tanis, E.S., et al. (2023). The State of the States in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities, The University of Kansas. www.stateofthestates.ku.edu