A town meeting supported having a group home for the disabled on town land, voting 93 to 23, with one abstention, in favor of leasing a half acre off Prospect Ridge to Ability Beyond, the Bethel-based organization that serves the disabled.
The 50-year renewable $1-a-year lease with Ability Beyond was approved at a special town meeting Wednesday night, June 10, after a public hearing at which nine of 12 speakers were in favor of the lease.
Several of hearing speakers were parents of disabled people, who offered moving testimonials about Ability Beyond and its work to improve the lives of the disabled — as well as the ways disabled people contribute to the communities that accept them.
“My son is 22 and autistic,” said John Richards of East Farm Lane. “He lives in a group home in Prospect.”
He described how, when the family moved after living for a time in Japan, there was a big turn-out of neighbors to say good-bye to the then 10-year-old autistic boy.
“There was weeping and crying and hugging,” Richards said.
“He had touched the lives of people.”
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