WALLA WALLA, Wash. — About five years ago, Shannon Bergevin and her husband started to think about what their son’s life would look like after they’re gone.
As parents of a son with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the Bergevins wondered what his housing would look like once they’re not around to take care of him anymore.
“And then we realized in talking with other families that everyone’s sort of silently dealing with the same question,” Bergevin said. “What’s going to happen to our loved one when we’re gone?”
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So, Bergevin did some research.
“In Walla Walla alone, there’s hundreds of people with developmental and intellectual disabilities,” she said. “And they’re mostly living at home with their parents or other family because there’s not a lot of great housing options that feel safe or affordable or give choice in their roommates and caregivers and things like that.”
That’s when she decided to look outside Walla Walla. Bergevin found a place in Phoenix, Ariz., called Luna Azul, which is a neighborhood intentionally designed for people with disabilities.
Neighborhoods such as Luna Azul are called pocket neighborhoods. Houses in pocket neighborhoods are gathered around each other, typically facing each other with shared walkways. They can also include communal spaces such as gardens, courtyards or other common areas.
Luna Azul immediately became Bergevin’s inspiration for a pocket neighborhood in Walla Walla. She soon started working with an architect, Ross Chapin of Ross Chapin Architects based in Langley. Chapin not only designed Luna Azul but has been designing pocket neighborhoods his whole career.
Bergevin is also now working with Ethan Bartos of The Kubala Washatko Architects based in Wisconsin. Once the architects were on board, Bergevin and a group of people decided to form a nonprofit, Pocket Neighborhood Foundation Walla Walla, to raise funds and get the project going.
The Pocket Neighborhood Foundation already has secured an engineering firm, Harms Engineering in Pasco, and a 1.6-acre parcel of land on Aspen Street near the area where East Alder Street becomes Tausick Way.
Bergevin said the foundation has raised about $650,000 so far and the project is expected to cost about $10 million total. The project has received several grants so far, including a $2,000 grant from WaFd Bank, a $5,000 grant from the Windermere Foundation, a $15,000 grant from the Wildhorse Foundation and another grant from the Kuni Foundation, which specializes in cancer research.
The foundation is hoping to complete its planned unit development application to the city early this year. The goal after that is to raise $1 million to build the infrastructure for the neighborhood.
It all depends on fundraising, Bergevin said, but the foundation hopes to start building the infrastructure in 2026.
“We do have a fundraising capital campaign starting right now, and we expect that that’s going to take about three years to get the full $10 million,” Bergevin said. “So we could see construction start in 2027 or 2028.”
The neighborhood in Walla Walla, called Aspen Gardens, will include 14 homes that can accommodate up to 40 people. Not everyone who lives there has to have an intellectual or developmental disability, Bergevin said, because residents will be able to move there with family, friends or caretakers if they choose.
“We will have a common house, too, where all the residents can gather,” Bergevin said. “We hope to make that a place where we can continue programming like entertainment, educational classes and cooking.”
The foundation also is planning to collaborate with other local organizations such as Valley Residential, Walla Walla Special Olympics, the Lillie Rice Center and the SOAR program to help keep residents engaged and included in the community.
The plan is for each home to have a large front porch, Bergevin said, which is meant to be an extension of the living space and make it easier for neighbors to socialize.
Bergevin said the ultimate goal of the Aspen Gardens project is to keep folks with disabilities from being displaced when family members or caretakers — the people who know their routines, likes and dislikes, medications and other structures — are no longer able to help.
She said that experience can be traumatic for many people and Pocket Neighborhoods Walla Walla is looking to prevent that for its residents.
“What we’re hoping to accomplish is to get our families moved into this pocket neighborhood before that need arises,” Bergevin said. “They can get to know their neighbors and their community and feel a part of something, so that when their parents do move away or pass away and they’re not living there anymore, that person’s already in a community of supportive friends and neighbors.”
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