Systems had an Open House and ribbon cutting for our new accessible home in Washington on November 4. The Washington Chamber of Commerce helped with setting up the ribbon cutting and advertising the Open House. They were there to take pictures and encouraged members to attend. Many City Council members also stopped by to tour the home. “We are committed to staying in the Washington area because of the way the community embraces the people we serve and us,” stated Mona Kenyon, SUI CEO.
The new home will accommodate four people already served by Systems that live in the area. The people served were renting from community landlords, but the homes were no longer able to meet their accessibility needs. After a two-year search to find a home, it was decided that the agency would need to build one.
Mona went on to say, “Across the state, there is a crisis in every community where there just isn’t enough accessible housing. Providers are left with hard decisions of either not being able to serve people in the areas of their choice or having people live in not ideal homes for their needs. We have strategically looked at places that people we serve love to live and have decided to put our efforts towards those communities.”
Washington has been a huge part of the Systems story. It was one of the first places the agency expanded to after getting established in Iowa City. Huge drivers of System’s early success were Jim and Karen Gorham. Jim and Karen are residents of Washington and were guardians of Jim’s brother Don, who was served by Systems until his death in 2022. Jim was on the Board of Directors from 1980 to 1991 and the Board President from 1983-1985. He was a huge driver of building Housing and Urban Development (HUD) group homes in not only Washington but in other areas served by Systems. Systems currently serves approximately twenty people in the area.
It was greatly appreciated to everyone that stopped by and we hope it is a joy to those that live there for years to come.
To learn more about what is happening at Systems, be sure to visit our events page.
