Welcome to the loving community of Sharing Meadows. Made up of five villages, this 185-acre land is home to other-abled adults. Over 20 years ago, Father Dennis Blaney started the SHARE Foundation to help parents and families of other-abled individuals. Today, Sharing Meadows provides housing, community, and work for all their residents. Mary, a resident, shares how living at Sharing Meadows has impacted her:
“When I moved here, I really knew I had friends," she says. “We all laugh together, cry together, it’s great. We’re a big, happy family.”
Video Transcript
Take Me Home
Mary: Whoa. Windy. Now we got to go back to work. Now, back to work. I got to go back to work. Okay. Bye-bye.
Bill: Good? Okay.
So we have five villages. In each village are three homes, and they're all labeled by a letter. And so, with Mary — Mary lives in “F” house. And so we have the five villages, 15 homes, for a total of 30 residents for the entire community.
David: Come here. Meet my friend. Come.
Producer Kevin: All right.
David: I'm going to see my friend, Michael. You know Mike? Come here.
This is my friend, Michael Grant. This is my housemate. Mike is a good guy.
Michael Grant: For a long, long time.
Dawn: I live in house “B.”
Producer Kevin: House B?
Dawn: Yeah. This is my housemate, Lori.
Producer Kevin: Hi, Lori.
Lori: Hi.
Producer Kevin: This is your workspace?
Mary: Yes it is. It’s where we make our jewelry. This is one of the pieces that I did yesterday that one of the stewards approves, and then we put them on string, and then we make our famous necklaces. This is one I did a couple days ago, which I think is very pretty. It's real. We use real genuine beads. I mean, we use the real stuff. Making necklaces and seeing people smile makes me very happy. I really enjoy doing this. I'm so glad to be up here. It is my favorite job.
John Kovacik: I'm John Kovacik. I live at Sharing Meadows, and I make soap in the soap-making room. We make all kinds of soap. We make — sometimes we would make honey oatmeal, honey and oatmeal, cranberry fig, lavender, mint, antibacterial sports bar soap. And then I started packaging it, and then I learned how to seal the soap too. And then I labeled it too. This is cranberry fig soap. That's how you get cranberry fig soap.
Producer Kevin: Wow, so you do the whole process, start to finish?
John: Yeah. How about it?
Bill: So you put your left foot down, and it pops that open. Okay. And then you flip it back.
Elizabeth: Yeah.
Producer Kevin: It goes…you're tying it here.
Sr. Theopista: I'm wrapping, then I go to threading. And then the third one is sleying. Then, when I finish sleying, it's ready for weaving.
Bill: Did you make that one?
Elizabeth: Yeah. I made all of them in here.
Mary: When I lived at home, I had nobody. I had nobody. But when I moved here, I mean, I really knew I had friends. And I really, I love all my friends here. There's no greater feeling than that, there really isn't — but to have friends who love you and care for you. There's no greater feeling. We all laugh together, cry together. I mean, it's great. We're a big, happy family.
John 2: How you doing? We're making eggplant parmesan lasagna —
Producer Kevin: Perfect.
John 2: — with sausage, mushrooms, and pepperoni.
Just sprinkle it all over the top, okay?
Bill: One thing that Father Blaney wanted to accomplish was to create a family setting. We have live-in caregivers. In each home, there's two residents with a live-in caregiver. People with intellectual disabilities are severely underserved throughout the country. And to have an organization like SHARE, that is its own community, is so unique. They have that ability to not have to worry about the busy streets or people coming in and out, but they have that security to be able to have their own life and have their own responsibilities. So, it's really awesome.
Mary: Have a good day, you guys.
Bill: Thanks, Mary. Great job. I'm so proud of you. Well done.
Mary: There’s a bees nest by the door, too.
Bill: Okay. I'll take care of it.
Mary: Come on in. Turn on a light. Okay. This is my house. We got all new hardwood floors, which is great. We love them a lot. The kitchen's great. It's huge. We love the kitchen. It's amazing. I'll show you our new walk-in shower because that's really cool.
(Dawn performs a lip sync performance of “Take Me Home”)
