According to Lindsay Langton, senior vice president of WeBUILT DFW:
“The statistics are staggering, yet largely unknown to the general public. Many have heard about the skyrocketing autism rates, but little is known about the housing crisis affecting this population. For example, only 19% of autistic adults live away from their parents. Unemployment rates for autistic people lie around 85-90%. And Texas ranks 49th out of 50 states in providing housing benefits to people with disabilities. Because so many adults live at home, the looming housing crisis is virtually invisible.
“But parents of neurodiverse adults understand this issue all too well – they worry about where their children will live if they die. Some seriously ill adults qualify for government benefits for housing, but many don’t and have nowhere to go. These adults are often semi-independent – they can do many activities of daily living but are not able to function fully independently and need some support.
“The WeBUILT organization began in Oregon and devised a successful affordable housing model to help solve this crisis. WeBUILT DFW plans to bring this model to North Texas and has begun fundraising to make this dream a reality. We participated in the Texas Community Foundation’s North Texas Giving Day for the first time in 2023. Although we didn’t raise a lot of money that year, we significantly raised awareness of our mission among parents of neurodiverse people and alerted some of the general public to the looming crisis.
“Additionally, through our participation in Giving Day, we learned about an organization that provides grants to nonprofits that address the root causes of poverty and support the most vulnerable groups in our community. We recently received a grant from this charity, which is a direct result of our participation in Giving Day.”
“In addition to fundraising, WeBUILT DFW is now focused on ‘Building a Community to Build a Community.’ We have started a monthly friendship group for neurodiverse adults interested in living together in a supportive community. Not only are we cultivating roots for our future housing development, we are also fostering friendships and reducing the sense of isolation experienced by many adults living at home. We are also learning independent living skills together, which is essential to thrive in a housing community where we all need to support one another.”
“We are meeting with the parents to decide the type and location of a new home for their adult children and we ask for your support to continue and complete this journey.”
*Graphics/photos provided by WeBUILT DFW
Texas Community Foundation’s North Texas Giving Day has pumped more than $566 million into North Texas communities in 15 years. In 2023, more than $63.9 million was raised through 97,000 donors to benefit 3,249 local nonprofits.
Click here to spread the word and help WeBUILT DFW on Thursday, September 19th. #NorthTexasGivingDay2024
