Gracious Grounds is excited to announce that we have added Faith Avery as our new Resident Support Coordinator.  In this part time role, Faith will be responsible for providing additional guidance and support for our community members along with assisting families in obtaining services and resources to support their independent living at Gracious Grounds.  Faith will not necessarily be providing direct support, but rather working to connect our community members with local service providers and opportunities.  She will also be meeting with our members and families on a regular basis to help identify those who might need additional assistance or identify opportunities for additional involvement within our community.  

We are so thrilled to have Faith join our Gracious Grounds team.  Prior to joining us, Faith has been serving as a Certified Employment Training Specialist and Social Coach with Social Incites, where she will continue to share her time.  In this role, she has been helping individuals to learn employment and social skills so that they are able to be successfully employed.  As a former Executive Director of a mentoring and advocacy ministry and as an Information and Referral Specialist at an agency for independent living, Faith has served many with unique abilities, connecting them to the resources they need to be successful and watching them as they transform their lives.  

Faith’s family consists of her husband, Russell, and their blended family of 5 children, as well as their playful yellow lab, Sparty.  She wants you to know that she has a heart for people who might be struggling, those that have been affected by difficult situations that they have found themselves in, those who have had difficulty “fitting in” and for those who just need somebody to sit, listen and care.

Having worked as a life skills coach to hundreds of individuals over the years, we believe that Faith has so much to contribute to Gracious Grounds.  Her ability to listen, encourage, develop trusting relationships, and connect individuals to vital community resources will serve both her and Gracious Grounds well in this new role.  

​

Gracious Grounds will celebrate the Grand Opening of its third location at Lakeshore Flats with a ribbon cutting and socially distanced car parade on September 10 at 4:00PM to welcome 25 new residents.  Friends, family and the community are invited to hop in their cars and wave hello to our new residents from a safe distance. Gracious Grounds will also be accepting donations from its on-line “wish-list,” which stock a pantry of necessities and goods to be available to residents.

With this expansion, Gracious Grounds, a Grand Haven-based non-profit housing organization for adults with unique abilities, has more than doubled its capacity from 15 residents to 40, with additional apartments available for future residents.  Mother to a new resident Bonnie Engers said, “Gracious Grounds at Lakeshore Flats is more than a new building complex.  Just ask my daughter, who lights up when describing her new home, her new friends, a new journey…this is a wish that every parent has for their child.”

Residents range in age from 20 to more than 60 years-old and are able to manage day-to-day living skills including medication regimens, personal hygiene, and cooking. Most residents hail from the West Michigan area, although we have some from as far away as Pennsylvania. For many, Gracious Grounds is the first home that they’ve lived in away from their parents.

About Gracious Grounds – Established as a 501c3 in 2014, Gracious Grounds looks beyond limitations to create an environment that is affordable, friendly and resident-centered. The organization emphasizes life enriching activities and togetherness by promoting: community involvement, inclusion, employability skills and opportunities, daily living skills and spirituality. Gracious Grounds owns one property and master-leases two others, each offering a different level of semi-independent living for adults with special needs and serving a total of 15 residents, at the moment and growing to serve 50 residents in August, 2020.

Please visit
graciousgrounds.org for more information.
###
To schedule interviews or for further information, please contact:
David Burdo, Executive Director

david@graciousgrounds.org
Katie Appold, Board President
katie@domoregood.org