Home is where we connect with family, friends and our community, and Open Hearts Open Arms (OHOA) is a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit corporation chartered in Tennessee. We understand the importance of home not only as a physical location but as a source of emotional and spiritual support, especially for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, veterans with special needs, or foster children and young adults transitioning from state support who are often lost and in need of a helping hand to transition to being adults. Our vision at OHOA is a philosophy of allowing each person we serve to have choices in developing programs and services to meet their needs. The programs will be based on a person-centered planning philosophy which is committed to self-determination and empowering individuals to become strong citizens and community members.
Based on our vision of home and community guided by a person-centered planning philosophy and implementation of services, the OHOA mission is to develop housing and to provide life support skills support for intellectually and/or developmentally disabled adults, disabled veterans, and foster children/young adults in transition. In support of this mission, OHOA believes in the dignity of all people and their freedom to enjoy the highest degree of self-determination in their lives based on what they want and need, not as determined by systems that are seldom adequate. Everyone we serve will receive support from those who know him or her best; their family, close friends, and professionals in education and health care. The services we plan to develop will seek to promote inclusion into their community through person-centered planning techniques and collaboration with community resources that will tailor our support programs based on the understanding of the environments, equipment, and clinical and staff supports necessary to each supported person’s specific needs.
IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES AND THE FUTURE
The founders of OHOA have worked with intellectually disabled children and adults for over 30 years and are aware of the needs facing the intellectually and developmentally disabled, older foster children/young adults transitioning to being and adult, homeless veterans in need of special services, as well as advocacy services that address their needs as care givers and the problems they have in obtaining services, whether from state and federally funded waivers or from basic services paid for by families. According to the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) there are several thousand adults and older children with intellectual and developmental disabilities who have requested services but who are not being served, mostly because of the lack of service providers who meet DIDD and federal requirements for the provision of support services. There are indications that several hundred older foster children in our county may be homeless and in need of support in transitioning to adults and to be able to lead productive lives. One of the founders, Rich Ellis, is a 100% disabled veteran who is aware of the needs of those who have served their country and need a wide variety of services, some of which we hope to provide by working through the Veterans Administration to provide housing and support services.
The founders of OHOA have the requisite skills and abilities coupled with concern and compassion to meet the demands required to establish housing and required support services for fellow Blount Countians and East Tennesseans.
Our Initial Efforts
We started with the remodeling of an existing three-bedroom house, three-bath house on five-plus acres of land located in Rockford, TN (Blount County), that was donated by James Sudderth, an OHOA founder and Board Member who has provided direct support services to Robby Ellis, the son of Richard and Wanda Ellis, also founders, for the past 10 years. There is also another building located on this property that is approximately 2,500 square feet and was a former nightclub that has been vacant for over 20 years. Hopes are to be able rehabilitate this building and make it into a community center for all those we swill serve. The house will serve three intellectually disabled adults with a complete range of support services 24 hours each day in addition to community and day services to ensure that each supported person is included in the community. Future plans for this tract will be the planning and development of housing designed specifically for the supported living needs of adults with intellectually and/or developmental disabilities, those who are capable of living on their own with living supports, veterans who are homeless and/or in need of special services, and the special needs of foster children/young adults in need a hand, not a handout.
OHOA will provide supported living services designed to allow all those who we support to contribute not only to their own wellbeing, but to that of their community. In line with this goal are plans to develop on-site programs at a building located on this property that will serve as a community center that will be designed to provide vocational training opportunities, a staffed learning center for older foster children and young adults to assist them in transitioning to the real world, as well as a site for preparation of meals to be distributed to those in need, and a place of socialization for all those served and their families.
Longer Range Plans
Longer range plans will include the development of other properties in the region to meet needs of young adults in foster care that will age out once they turn eighteen and veterans in our community. Plans are to include housing to support individuals as they work towards completion of education goals and participate in employment opportunities. OHOA will work with local service providers to meet the needs of these individuals and work with the local business and government agencies to open up opportunities for those individuals involved in our programs.
MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION
OHOA has been chartered as a non-profit corporation in Tennessee and has developed a set of By-Laws that reflect the not-for-profit character of the corporation and has been registered as a charitable organization through the Tennessee Department of State, making us able to legally accept donations. The organization is also tax exempt under 501(c)(3) IRS regulations. The organization is currently very basic with a Board of Directors made up of seven concerned citizens including two of the founders, Richard and Wanda Ellis, who serve on the Board of Directors along with five others with backgrounds in serving special needs individuals. Another founder, Cindy Faller, is currently serving as an unpaid Executive Director.
The house and the adjoining property have an interesting history. It is owned by a care giver to those with intellectual disabilities, Mr. James Sudderth, who has worked with the intellectually disabled for over 15 years, and more particularly, with the son of two of the OHOA founders, Rich and Wanda Ellis, for the past 10 years. The house had been vacant for over 20 years but is basically sound and renovations have been completed with the goal of meeting DIDD licensing requirements. Mr. Sudderth owns the property but has a lease/purchase agreement with OHOA and has agreed to allow the founders to borrow funds against the house and property to begin operations. This has been a blessing to the founders and their desire to provide new ideas in serving Blount County.
As of August 13, 2019 Open Hearts Open Arms received approval from DIDD to provide services. We are accepting applications for Direct Support Professionals.
Update: We are now offering Community Participation, Wrap-Around, Personal Assistance, Supported-Living and Respite to individuals supported through the DIDD Waiver. We will be hiring more staff as our enrollment grows. When positions open, you can find them on Indeed and if you follow us on instagram at OHOATN you will see updates there as well. (January 18, 2020)
