Visions for Creative Housing Solutions was incorporated as a 501c3 nonprofit organization in 2014 and quickly became a recognized leader in providing supported housing and community engagement opportunities for Upper Valley adults with developmental and similar disabilities. Living among a caring circle of friends, with individualized support services, encourages each Visions resident to lead an engaged and fulfilled life as a contributing member of our community. Each Visions resident has their own living space in shared or individual apartments or houses, and each of our three locations includes common areas and family-style evening meals that encourage and help to sustain the mutually supportive community of residents that distinguishes life at Visions.
Our Strategic Plan guides everything we do
“As I have met with individuals and families, one theme is universal: the need for home and companionship. What is unique about Visions is carefully considered community ties, personal supports, and opportunities for participation in meaningful purpose. Visions for Creative Housing Solutions does this in the best manner possible… joining together and making possible for all persons the communities that we all wish for.”
- Donald Shumway, Former Commissioner, NH Dept of Health and Human Services
History
Visions for Creative Housing Solutions founding location at Sunrise Farm in Enfield, New Hampshire, offers a safe, rural, 80-acre setting with a built-in pool, hiking trails, and flower and vegetable gardens. Once the family home of founding Executive Director Sylvia Kluge Dow, the property was originally owned and operated as Kluge’s Inn on Sunset Hill by Sylvia’s family. She and her husband David Dow have two daughters, both with developmental disabilities. In 2004 they began meeting with other families, all seeking permanent housing and support options for their adult children. The result, Visions for Creative Housing Solutions, opened in 2014 with six residents at Sunrise Farm. Eleven individuals now live in apartments or shared houses at this Enfield location.
In response to an ever-growing wait list, Visions began exploring options for expansion in 2017. That led to further community conversations, a search for property and the launch of a capital campaign to renovate two adjacent apartment buildings just a short walk from Colburn Park and the center of town. The result, Green Street Commons, opened with eleven residents in 2021.
Just as the Green Street capital campaign began in 2019, another nonprofit, Outreach House, announced its closing and decision to donate their Hanover property to Vision. The existing building didn’t meet Visions’ needs for accessibility and safety, so a decision was made to tear down the existing structure and build from the ground up. The Visions Hanover Capital Campaign was launched and in July, 2024, Visions opened Spruce House, a brand-new fully accessible 3-story apartment building within easy walking distance of Dartmouth College and downtown.
Now with three sites offering permanent, affordable, supported housing for adults with developmental disabilities in the Upper Valley, the Visions model has proven itself to be financially solvent with a history of long-term sustainability.
Visions offers a comfortable, safe, and affordable home among a caring circle of friends along with 24/7 as-needed support designed to meet the specific needs of each Visions resident. Support with employment, transportation, health and medical oversight, life skills development, relationship building, and social and recreational opportunities nurture a sense of well-being and self-worth. The Visions model gives each Visions resident a chance at living a fulfilling, successful life with the dignity they deserve.
Unique in the Upper Valley
Visions is an approved vendor through the State of New Hampshire’s Bureau of Developmental Services. Individualized service contracts with the state for each resident are the primary source of funding for Visions’ day-to-day operations. This is followed by the nominal amount each resident pays for room and board, along with grants, and individual donations. Early on, Visions was approved by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid’s Heightened Scrutiny Process, ensuring that the organization meets the highest standards set by the Home and Community Based Services Division of Medicare & Medicaid. Visions is an active member of the Private Provider Network (PPN) of New Hampshire, a collaboration among private agencies that provide a wide range of high quality/cost effective community-based supports for individuals with developmental and acquired disabilities throughout the state.
Visions is recognized as a leader throughout the State of New Hampshire and beyond in innovative housing solutions for adults with disabilities. As a result, in 2017 the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority provided Visions with a $50,000 Emerging Opportunities grant which, in part, funded creation of a “Supported Housing Toolkit” for others to use as a roadmap to replicate the Visions model. Since we began tracking downloads in September 2022, more than 180 people and organizations from 24 states have downloaded the Toolkit and several communities in our region have used it to form their own nonprofits to offer supported housing options, including Our Place in Dover, NH, and The Home Possible Project in the Lakes Region.
Click here to view a selection of articles written about Visions since we opened.
Pretty Porch at Sunrise Farm in Enfield, NH