Nearly a decade after its conception, Trailhead Community in Littleton, Colorado, has opened as a first-of-its-kind residential development designed to address a critical housing gap for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Families often struggle to find safe, supportive housing for loved ones with disabilities after primary caregivers pass away, according to executive director Jeans Mobley.
“Right now, people end up in group homes or host homes,” Mobley said. “Some end up in nursing homes, where a 25-year-old lively human in a nursing home is not the best fit for them long term.”
‘The Horton Hears a Who problem’
While there are many initiatives focused on senior housing and homelessness, the home issue affecting people with disabilities is frequently overlooked, according to Mobley.
“We're [quickly] approaching a crisis of not having safe, conducive housing for all of these folks,” Mobley said.
Matt McMullen, a Trailhead Community Board member, explained that the issue of minimal housing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities hasn’t really been known to the general population.
“It's what I call the Horton Hears a Who problem,” McMullen said. “They all had to yell really loud, ‘we're here.’ That’s kind of where things were a year to two years ago.”
However, he said, awareness has grown significantly.
'More than just housing'
Daniel Hansen, the lead broker for Trailhead, said he’s been involved with the project for about five years.
“Trailhead Community is an 83-unit condo complex,” Hansen said. Two units serve as respite rooms for visiting families, 21 are rentals and 60 are available for purchase. Mobley said parents can live in the community, citing one example in which a resident’s child resides in a for-sale condo while she lives in one of the rentals.
Rentals are offered through the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority at 60% of the area median income. The for-sale units include studios; one-bedroom, one-bath layouts; and two-bedroom, two-bath floor plans, ranging from $385,000 to $510,000.
Thirty-four units remain available, Hansen said.
While Trailhead is not a facility or group home, it offers events, connections to resources and 24-hour staff support.
“It's like an apartment building mixed with cohousing in the sense that everybody knows everybody,” McMullen said.
Trailhead is designed to support residents throughout their lives, Mobley said.
“What we're trying to accomplish here is that, after our residents’ primary caretakers have passed away, they have been in an environment where they’ve built natural support,” she said. “They have neighbors that know them and care about them … It's more than just housing.”
‘A community of good neighbors’
When planning the community, Mobley said, they decided to mix different age groups and abilities after hearing from families who valued the idea of people supporting one another across generations and needs. The concept aimed to bring together seniors and individuals with disabilities.
Mobley said the community reflects the real world: it is multigenerational, inclusive, and varied in ability, with residents ranging from 18 to 85 years old. She added that while the numbers fluctuate, Trailhead aims to have 60% of its residents be people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
McMullen said there is a strong sense of community at Trailhead.
“[It’s] important not only to our seniors — because they want to stay relevant — but also to our folks who have never lived on their own before; they've always lived with their parents,” he said. “Now they get social interaction that helps them thrive.”
At Trailhead, there is 7,000 square feet of community space, including a game room, a gym, a basketball court, a kitchen and a laundry room. Residents can attend various events, including bingo and movie nights.
“There's always someone that they can talk to if they've had a bad day,” Mobley said. “One of our phrases is a ‘community of good neighbors.’”
While there is a community of people who provide support to residents, Mobley said, ultimately the people are living independently.
“They're getting up and getting ready by themselves,” she said. “They're making their own breakfasts. They're getting ready for work, getting ready for the day program. Our staff do not do anything inside the units.”
‘Those bitter, sweet moments of life’
Mobley, a former accountant, stepped into leadership at Trailhead after her grandmother, Barb Ziegler, one of Trailhead’s founders, died last year, just one week before the building opened.
Ziegler had planned to live in the building to support her daughter, Lexi Ziegler, and help others transition into the community. Lexi Ziegler, Mobley’s aunt, moved in shortly after and now benefits from a caring network and access to resources.
“[It’s] one of those bitter, sweet moments of life,” Mobley said. “To know Lexi is to love Lexi. She walks in a room, and everywhere I go with her, someone knows her because she is just so friendly that she makes friends wherever she goes.”
Mobley said working at Trailhead has been her greatest joy.
Sandy Polizzotto is a parent of a Trailhead Community member, and she works as a project manager running the kitchen. Polizzotto, her husband and their son, Ryan, 35, have been with Trailhead for about seven years.
“It was really exciting to find out that it was right here, where I was already living, instead of having to move my son somewhere else,” she said.
Trailhead has provided vital support for Ryan and his family by offering a living environment that reflects the inclusive, typical community in which he grew up. She said Ryan has really grown socially since being at Trailhead; at home, he would spend most of his time inside.
“He has really developed a social life, and he's made friends … It's been wonderful to watch him talk with people and participate,” she said.
‘A beacon of how this is done’
Hansen said interest in the community itself continues to grow, with visitors coming from across the country and beyond.
McMullen plans to expand Trailhead and build additional communities.
“We're looking at some locations around the Denver metro area to do our second and third community,” he said.
One of the upcoming projects will be in a more rural area. The vision is to build on Trailhead’s existing model by incorporating agricultural elements, such as equine therapy, animal husbandry and gardening.
Another project is planned for a more urban setting. McMullen said the goal is to serve a broader range of individuals, including those who need more support.
This development will feature more two-bedroom, two-bath units, allowing for greater flexibility — such as compatible individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities living together or caregivers residing with residents while maintaining their own space.
McMullen also hopes to offer more affordable options in future communities.
Hansen said the community has inspired other groups to push for similar housing initiatives.
“Essentially, we're consulting and offering advice to parent groups on how to pull off this type of housing to try and encourage other people to follow suit, take our model and run with it,” he said. “We definitely would like to be a beacon of how this is done, what this looks like and how it can be successful.”