MITCHELL, S.D. — A door of their own is within reach for individuals with developmental disabilities.
LifeQuest held a groundbreaking ceremony this month for the planned microhome village development at the corner of East Eighth Avenue and North Gamble Street in Mitchell.
The “my own front door” microhome village will have six homes and a staff office, for a total of seven buildings in a row. The staff office will have a community area, a garage and be centrally located.
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LifeQuest Development Director Brian Loken hopes for dirt work on the project to start as quickly as possible, and for construction to be completed by June or July.
Executive Director Pam Hanna called the project “the first of its kind” in the state of South Dakota for people who get services from community support providers. It’s a project designed to provide supportive housing for individuals in Mitchell with developmental disabilities.
Three people supported by LifeQuest have committed to live in the new microhomes. Each home is 660 square feet with a bedroom, a bathroom and kitchen. Each home will be fully accessible, with plans for one or two homes to feature additional accessibility features.
LifeQuest staff will be at the village during waking hours, and during the night, each home will have remote safety monitoring technology enabled.
The village is an opportunity for LifeQuest clients to live more independently. Village tenants will pay rent and are expected to take care of their home, from normal housekeeping duties to snow shoveling their front porch.
The microhomes are designed to create a sense of home. The project will allow residents to open their door and say, “Welcome to my home.”
The microhome project’s budget is $2 million, which includes the cost of construction, maintenance and move-in. The project is 80% funded through private donations, grants, and LifeQuest.
Hanna called it a proud day for Mitchell and a celebration for those who dream of having their own home.
“We never stand alone. We stand with this community, and we cannot do any of this work without our community,” Hanna said.
About 60 community members, LifeQuest staff and project donors came to the groundbreaking ceremony.
LifeQuest plans to work with its client base to fill the other three microhomes before construction is completed. Loken told the Mitchell Republic that he is in discussions with LifeQuest staff and client families to fill the homes. To live in a LifeQuest microhome, a person must have the interest and the ability to do so.
“We talk with the people we support, their families, the people who are closest to them, to see if they want to live in a home like this,” Loken said.
If it works out, we add them to the list, he said.
Two of the future residents of the microhome village have jobs in town, but Loken noted it’s not a requirement to live in a village home to have a job. Residents will fill their time with work, volunteering or activities, according to Loken.
Hanna thanked Ciaverella Designs Architects, Puetz Design and Build and Schoenfelder Construction.
“We are leading the way for more people to have a sense of home,” Hanna said.
Mitchell Regional Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Rachel Hagenbaugh hopes that the homeless coalition can do something like LifeQuest’s microhome village for veterans.
“The more homes the better,” Hagenbaugh said.
Future microhome resident Cindy Montefering thanked God for the new home, and shared she was excited to design and decorate her own home the way she wanted, and future resident Laci Meyer said she was excited for a new start.
“I cannot wait to have my own front door,” future resident Roger Englebarts said.
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