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YMCA Breaks Ground on Special Needs Group Home

Project to be named in honor of accomplished 20-year-old with Down syndrome who died before she could achieve dream of independent living.

The Somerset Hills YMCA on Thursday night broke ground on a new home that would allow six adults with developmental disabilities to live next door to the facility at 140 Mount Airy Road.

The Somerset Hills YMCA will be the first YMCA in the nation to sponsor a home for adults with special needs, Tad Waldbauer, chairman of the facility's Board of Directors, said at the official groundbreaking ceremony.

"Maybe we will start something," Waldbauer told a crowd of officials, volunteers and professionals working on the project, and family and friends of the late Melissa Riggio.

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The home will be named after Riggio, a 20-year-old with Down syndrome, who worked at the YMCA's Wellness Center. Riggio, a 2007 graduate of Bernards High School in Bernardsville, had told her parents she wanted to live on her own in Basking Ridge, to be near Amy Margaret MacDonald, the YMCA employee who said she had hired Riggio to perform a variety of duties in the Wellness Center.

Laura Riggio, Melissa's mother, said during the presentation, "Melissa _ Mom and Dad have kept our promise to you. This will be your home in Basking Ridge."

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The future occupants of the proposed $1.13-million ranch, with room for six adults, would be have access to all programs, including an expanding number of programs for special needs members, at the Somerset Hills YMCA, Waldbauer said. The ranch home is slated to open next spring on 5.5 acres of donated land near the YMCA parking lot.

"Melissa and I were the best of friends," a sometimes tearful MacDonald said as she described Riggio, who died of leukemia in April 2008. She read part of a poem written by Riggio, "The Ring," in which the young poet wrote about herself as "an ordinary women."

Steve Riggio of Bernardsville, Melissa's father, said his daughter had lived a life of determination and triumph. "From the day she was born, Laura and I were committed to giving her every opportunity to triumph."

Melissa Riggio began her education at three weeks of age, and went on to attend public schools in Brooklyn and at the Bedwell School, the Bernardsville Middle School and Bernards High School in the Somerset Hills school district, he said.

Even after her death, her parents said, her poetry is being turned into performances at a school in London. She also had received the Self Advocate Award from the National Down Syndrome Society in 2003, according to the YMCA.

Supporters and organizers of the project said a group home would provide an opportunity for independent living for other adults with developmental disabilities.

The Thursday night ceremony also included the announcement of an endowment campaign, Strengthen Tommorrow, that has been started with an endowment from the Riggio family.

Waldbauer said most of the funds for construction of the house are already in place, and the endowment would cover furnishings and other items needed by future occupants. He said Neil and Lois Gagnon of Mendham Township and Rob Ryan of Bernardsville will chair the endowment campaign.

The Riggios and YMCA officials thanked volunteers and donors who had brought the proposal for the home as far as the groundbreaking. The property had been donated in 1994 by two local dentists, Randy Sarantos and Peter Kapsinalis, according to the YMCA.

The proposed home will be sponsored by the Somerset Hills YMCA, with additional funding to be provided by Somerset County, dedicated developers' funds from Bernards Township,and other agencies and private foundations, according to the YMCA.

Our House Inc, of Berkeley Heights will partner with the YMCA. That organization, which already manages 25 homes in the state for residents with developmental disabilities, will be responsible for selecting the residents and handling the ongoing daily administration of the home, according to Andrea Williams, YMCA spokeswoman. 

The proposed group home also is part of Bernards Township's plan for providing housing for low and moderate income residents within the municipality. The project already has gained approval from the township Planning Board, said Bernards Township Mayor Scott Spitzer.

Up to $500,000 of the project will be funded by fees paid by developers who must contribute the money automatically when they build new construction in the township, Bruce McArthur, township administrator, said previously. The fee, set by the state housing council, is separate from taxpayer funds, he said.

Spitzer said the proposed group home is an example of the initiative shown by the Somerset Hills YMCA in serving the community.

Another speaker was Roseanne Mirabella of Bernardsville, who spoke about how aging parents worry what the future holds for their developmentally disabled children. 

She said her own disabled daughter, Lee, often asks when it will be her turn to achieve the same milestones of maturity as her sisters.

Mirabella said there is a long waiting list for similar group homes in New Jersey. She said young adults such as her daughter would finally be able to live their own lives in such homes.

 


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