Testimonials
Here is what our residents, parents and partners are saying...
"Housing opportunities for those with IDD is a growing need for those with Down syndrome, especially as the life expectancy for those with Down syndrome continues to increase, along with their aging caregivers. Options that help individuals maintain good health, allow independence and inclusion in our communities, maintain privacy and ensure the safety of our most vulnerable population is a significant undertaking, and we are grateful to the work you are doing to provide this for our community. DSAMT is proud to be a partner with Our Place Nashville and offers its support in any way we can as you continue to enhance the lives of those with Down syndrome."
Alecia Talbott, Executive Director of Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee
“You have paved the way! Your willingness to share what you’ve learned made our path easier to traverse. Our Two Sparrows Village cottage welcomed our first residents on April 15th. Words cannot express my gratitude for all your encouragement and support to make this all possible. You continue to inspire us.”
jaquelyn Thornton, executive director, two sparrows village, atlanta
"I want to take this opportunity to tell you how Our Place Nashville has changed our family’s life. My husband and I had a son 36 years ago. It wasn’t long before it was obvious that he had some challenges. Through his growing up years, we took every opportunity to help him grow in every way. But there was one area we were unable to help him with. He wanted to live on his own. We didn’t want him in an apartment by himself where he would sit alone. At least with us he had someone around. My husband and I are hard-working people and did not have extra money to get him a place. Many nights we would shed tears over the situation. We came away from our first meeting with you knowing that the blessing we had been looking for was right in front of us. Here was an apartment with a community around it that we could afford. We loved the concept and decided to give it a try. Eight years later, Steven still lives there in a vibrant active community. He has friends and neighbors and so many new experiences...from reading to a neighbor’s daughter to discussing politics with the graduate students. He is finally living a better life than we could have hoped for. We can never thank Our Place Nashville enough. I pray that you can continue to help all of us in this community."
Carol Greiner, Parent of Friendship House resident
"The long-term impact of Our Place Nashville cannot be adequately emphasized. Not only does this organization give rare, desperately needed integrated community to our population, it has a pay-it-forward value for the divinity student. The model has already shown how the program will and can be replicated in cities across the U.S., and gives students a much-needed insider/other-world view of a large, forgotten, maligned, and misunderstood segment of the human population. Our Place Nashville also offers the tremendous gift of peace of mind to parents of loved ones with disAbilities who are not able to enjoy empty nest and many other retirement benefits, and are challenged with the task of caring for their loved ones until they die. Every parent of a son/daughter with a disAbility has a common wish: to outlive their loved one. More often than not, it does not happen. Our Place Nashville is a dream come true for their fortunate recipients and also a happy ending: Their loved ones live in community where they are wanted, loved, appreciated, and valued."
Leisa Hammett, Parent of woman on waiting list
"As a statewide information and referral program, Tennessee Disability Pathfinder tracks the types of needs individuals with disabilities have based on the requests for resources we receive, and housing is consistently one of the top five needs reported. Our Place Nashville, therefore, serves as a valuable resource in fulfilling the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Not only does it help meet the basic need for housing, it also promotes the self-advocacy of individuals with disabilities by enabling them to live independently in a supported environment."
Megan Hart, Director of Tennessee Disability Pathfinder
“Grants from the Barnes Fund Commission go to nonprofit organizations that are able to leverage other grants and private dollars to build very affordable housing, sometimes for people who need other services, too. A great example is Our Place Nashville, which partners with other nonprofits and universities to provide housing for residents with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Those residents are paired with folks like Vanderbilt students who live in the housing as well. It’s a great model known as a Friendship House and I’m fortunate to have several in the district I represent. It’s just one of many types of affordable housing that the Barnes Fund supports.”
colby sledge, metro Council member, district 17
“I have been the happiest I have been in a long time since I moved in. I have grown to love my Our Place Nashville family/housemates.”
sloane cargen, Friendship House Resident
"My decision not to move my nephew Bryshawn to Mississippi [after his mother passed away] was mainly based on his community/family at Friendship House #2. Taking him away from his friends, his job, his Next Steps fellow alumni and being able to live an independent life would have been a setback. Him living in the Friendship House community has put me at ease knowing he is in a community that cares.”
Charon wilson, aunt of Friendship House resident
"Thank you for letting me live at Friendship House. It’s so cool and I like it here."
Andrea Duffy, Friendship House resident
"You have made it possible for us to move farther, faster, than he has ever come before. You have given me something to hope for, when for years I have been nothing but desperate. $150 a year [waiting list fee] is a bargain for twelve months full of hope! Twelve and a half dollars a month? SIGN ME UP!"
Mary Catharine Nelson, waiting list parent
"We feel SO BLESSED to be able to provide free closet buildouts in support of your program. I hope it’s meaningful to the residents. I received the nicest handwritten thank you card from Jacob . . . it absolutely melted my heart.”
kurt schusterman, owner, california closets of tennessee
“I just spent 15 minutes in the parking lot of Publix talking to the sweetest gentleman who shared with me that he lives in Our Place Nashville and he said it’s changed his life. He said to me verbatim: he LOVES where he lives, his housemates, and all the people who help with the fundraisers that make it possible for him to live independently.
summer martin, nashville resident
"Our Place is such an important resource for the Nashville community, and it will be a win-win-win if the Frist Center can help make partnership possible whereby Our Place residents gain access to meaningful employment through The Precisionists, Inc."
keivan stassun, director, frist center for autism & innovation, Vanderbilt university
"I am so excited how far Our Place Nashville has come in a short time. For years I have been working on housing options but have been unsuccessful, as have others. I feel really good about the future now."
Bill Gavigan, M.D. - waiting list parent
“Bless and thank you for all you do. There is a special place in Heaven for your organization. This has truly been an answer to our prayers!”
deborah gibson, parent of Friendship House resident
“What makes Jaco Hamman and Carolyn Naifeh both extremely award-worthy is that they are exemplars of community servants who, at great personal sacrifice, devote themselves to a cause for little or no return while filling a dramatic need few in our community are addressing.”
Mayor’s Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities in presenting 2018 Professional of the Year Award to Our Place Nashville Co-Founders
“You are really doing it. Congrats on all you are achieving.”
Harold S. Reitman, M.D., Founder, differentbrains.org
“I think that a parent or prospective family would want to know that we do activities, we have dinners and community is certainly built here. However, the best moments are the impromptu moments that are reflective of how relationships are built beyond programming. These moments in cars, in our parking lot, and after dinner for further conversation are where our best relationship building happens. I am grateful for the activities but more than anything, grateful for the growth I have seen in myself in truly knowing that people are worth pausing your day for. That is the heart of community.”
Rev. Dr. Chelsea B. Yarborough, former Resident Director, first Friendship House, now assistant professor, phillips theological seminary, tulsa
“This is the happiest I have ever seen [my daughter]. She is living the life she imagined as she was growing up. At the two-month mark, I asked her if she wanted to come home because she was homesick or unhappy with her apartment. She asked if I was okay or had lost my mind. I don’t think it could be going any better.”