I am overjoyed to share that the first Bayit Association group home will, b’ezrat Hashem, be opening in the next few weeks!

We have come so far from late 2018 when I authored a column entitled “Where Will Our Child Live?,” in which I asked the questions that keep all parents of adults with IDD (intellectual and developmental disabilities) awake at night: “Who will take care of our [child] as my wife and I get older and after his/her siblings have moved out and moved on? Where will he/she live? Who will care for him/her? Who can replace us, his/her parents? These questions and many others plague all parents of teens and young adults with IDD. The answers aren’t always clear or easy, and some are simply unanswerable.”

Our goal in creating The Bayit Association was to answer these questions and create what was a sorely unaddressed component in our community’s growing infrastructure: North Jersey did not have any shomer Shabbat/kosher housing for the growing numbers of adults with IDD in our community whose parents will not be able to care for them as they age.

So we set out to create beautiful homes and other housing arrangements for the adult children with IDD in our midst. To achieve this, we needed to do five critical things:

First, we had to figure out the need, which we did by conducting a survey which told us back in 2018 that nearly 65 families, and nearly 100 families today, would one day need a home for their son or daughter with IDD.

Second, we had to educate ourselves on the intricacies and complex rules and regulations governing housing for individuals with IDD in New Jersey, and what parents needed to do in order for their children to be eligible for housing.

Third, we had to start purchasing appropriate properties and begin the arduous process of designing, planning the homes and getting permits and approvals from both the town of Teaneck and the regulators from the State of New Jersey.

Fourth, in order to purchase the homes, we had to begin raising money. We did so, with the help of hundreds of generous donors, large and small. A heartfelt thank you to all those who donated over the past few years—we owe you so much!

Fifth and finally, we had to find the right partner with the expertise and proper regulatory licenses, policies and procedures to run and operate our first homes, which we did in partnering with Ohel in the fall of 2022.

After all of that work, our first home is ready to open in the coming weeks, and the first four young adults from our community are preparing to move in. It’s hard to describe and process the emotions coursing through our hearts and minds and my wife and I (and likely my co-founders, Adam Chill and Bassie Taubes, and their families as well) will likely all be crying at the dedication/chanukat habayit in a few weeks.

Launching a Causematch Campaign to Secure the Second Home: Monday, November 18-Wednesday, November 20

I am proud to announce that we are launching our first-ever public three-day/72-hour fundraising campaign (powered by Causematch) to raise $1 million to celebrate the first home’s opening and to help pay for and renovate our second home in Teaneck. Our goal is to raise the funds needed to fully pay for, renovate and open our second Teaneck home within the next year.

With special thanks to all our matching donors, ALL donations to the upcoming campaign will be fully double-matched!

We hope that you will consider joining us in this critical campaign as an ambassador and help us reach out via text, WhatsApp, email, etc. to your friends and family during the three days of the campaign—Monday, November 18 through Wednesday, November 20. The link to sign up to become an ambassador is here: https://bit.ly/3NXQr34. Being an ambassador requires no monetary commitment; it is simply a tool to help us communicate the importance of The Bayit Association to the broader community.

Of course, donations of any size are always valued and appreciated. You can donate now or wait until the campaign goes live, but there is no reason to wait. To donate, just visit our campaign site, causematch.com/bayit OR scan the QR code at the end of this article with your phone.

Help us realize our dream of creating beautiful homes and housing for the growing numbers of adults with IDD and autism in our community! Many thanks in advance for all your consideration and support. If you have any questions or comments, email me at: [email protected] or [email protected]