From The Ground Up, Harwich Man Builds Special Needs Housing Group

HARWICH - At 31, Jeff Locantore is the youngest resident of Pine Oaks Village, an affordable housing development here. He lives independently despite having cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder, and don't get him wrong. He's glad to have his apartment, having spent seven years on the waiting list to obtain it.

But it's not really the experience Locantore had hoped for. He'd feel more comfortable being among people his own age, with whom he could share common interests and experiences. And while he knows a number of other young adults with special needs who are looking for housing, the options are few.

Locantore met with the head of the town's affordable housing committee, and together they met with other local and regional housing groups, all of which had the same message: they are already over-extended with existing housing programs to take on a new one. While they offered their advice and expertise, they told Locantore to consider creating his own housing group.

So Locantore, a 1990 graduate of the business management program at Cape Tech, has formed Lower Cape Community Housing, a nonprofit startup that aims to create small-scale four-unit homes for adults with special needs. And he's really starting from the ground up. His first board of directors includes several housing experts and community activists, and a number of people with connections to the building trades.

He's already started with some research and has found a company that will provide a simple four-bedroom home, delivered and installed on an existing foundation, for about $120,000, far less than a similar structure built from scratch. The prefabricated houses would then be modified to make them fully accessible four-unit houses with common living spaces and a shared kitchen.

"That's how I intended on doing it," Locantore said. Even if it would be simpler to track down individual ground-floor condominiums and convert them for special needs use, the idea is to provide residents with a sense of community.

"It's to be with people your own age," he said. Wouldbe residents would need to pay rent or some kind of fee to help cover the operating cost of the home, and would need to agree to help raise funds for the housing group. "They've also got to be able to live independently," Locantore added.

Lower Cape Community Housing remains in its infancy, and volunteers are needed to help with key tasks, like working on the organization's non-profit status, developing a website, organizing fundraisers and other events, and recruiting business sponsors. It's a daunting amount of work, but Locantore knows how to persevere.

"I didn't know what I was getting into, but I'm having fun with it," he said with a laugh.

Potential volunteers are invited to an organizational meeting in the Thornton Room at Brooks Free Library on July 7 at 4 p.m. People with various backgrounds and levels of expertise are needed, he said.

Locantore said the group hopes to sponsor town meeting articles in Harwich, Chatham, Orleans, Brewster and Dennis next year, seeking funds or a donation of land to support their efforts. In the meantime, volunteers are busy raising funds with various events, including a golf tournament on Sept. 15 at Dennis Pines Golf Course. To learn more, or to find out about business sponsorship opportunities, call 774-237-0696 or email locantorejeff1985@gmail.com.

Potential volunteers are invited to an organizational meeting in the Thornton Room at Brooks Free Library on July 7 at 4 p.m.