Cape Cod Villages First Resident to Arrive Next Week

Courtesy of capecodvillage.org.

ORLEANS – After nearly a decade of planning, fundraising and construction, the first resident will move into the Cape Cod Village in Orleans next week.

The village will provide supportive housing for 16 adults with Autism and a Community Resource Center.

The town issued an occupancy permit for the community center the day before Christmas. Occupancy permits were also issued for the four residential building in the development last week.

“We are really completely open,” said Lauren Jones, a village co-founder. 

“All the residences, as soon as they get furnished will be opened for occupancy, and we can begin to use the community resource center as it was intended – to bring folks in.”

Resident arrivals will be staggered over the course of a few months after the first tenant arrives Monday, January 13.

“As we continue to hire staff we will slowly move people in,” Jones said. “We want to give both the staff and the residents a chance to acclimate because it is a huge transition for all of us and something we’ve never done.”

Jones and her husband Bob, the parents of a child with Autism, founded in the non-profit in 2011 with a goal of creating quality housing and programs for adults on the spectrum.

“Group homes can tend to be isolating and we decided to build a campus-style community with 16 folks that would have a lot of integration with the larger Cape Cod community,” Jones said.

The Community Resource Center, a 3,400-square-foot facility, will offer educational, recreational, and social activities for the residents and individuals in the Cape Cod community with developmental disabilities, their families and support groups.

The “great room” can serve up to 75 people for dances, parties, yoga and more. It will also include a resource library, a kitchen, sensory room, arts and crafts room and offices.

The center also includes state-of-the-art technology with white boards, and large screens to assist with daily activities and programs.

“It’s going to be a very robust and vibrant place. That’s for sure,” Jones said.

The village is also located in the heart of downtown Orleans on a four acre parcel. The property is private and surrounded by an old Cranberry bog, but is a two minute walk from the center of town with access to the library.

The property is also next to the Cape Cod Rail Trail.

“We wanted to be in a downtown location to foster that sense of community connection,” Jones said.

Jones said the project is about community connections and that was the goal from the beginning.

“It’s really come to fruition.”

The Town of Orleans and the entire Cape Cod community has helped to support the project, which received funding from several communities.

“We are sure it is going to be a win-win for the larger community, as well as the folks who are going to reside here,” Jones said.