Broken Arrow group building new homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are getting a new place to call home later this year thanks to a Broken Arrow group.

The residential cottages are at the Gatesway Foundation campus in Broken Arrow near the Rose District.

Move-in Excitement

Kelsi Poggenpohl is among the ones who will be moving in.

She’s excited about having her own space.

"It's going to be cool, because I'll have my own bathroom, I'll have my own shower, and stuff like that,” said Poggenpohl.

She says they will be a bit different from where they are currently living, in the main building.

"The new cottages, whenever we get to move into them, it's going to be a little different, because we're going to have a bunch of girls living with us,” said Poggenpohl. “It will just be girls only, no boys."

Edward Valencia hasn’t had to worry about housing for nearly 30 years since living at Gatesway.

"I know it is very hard for some people to find a place to live, and I'm very lucky to be here,” said Valencia.

He’s counting down the days until he gets to move into his new place.

"It's like having a million dollars,” said Valencia. “It makes me pretty happy. I've been here so many years, and I never want to leave this place."

Fixing Housing Shortages

Each cottage will have eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms.

The homes have been years in the making.

"It's a dream come true,” said Kristina Watkins, the Communications and Marketing Officer for the Gatesway Foundation. “This was really a passion project for all of us in the organization, especially our leadership team, and we have been talking about it for a few years now. To finally see it coming to life and to see it in person is really, truly, an amazing thing."

Leaders at Gatesway say finding housing for people with disabilities is tough, but this is a step in the right direction.

"Housing is scarce,” said Watkins. “We have friends that live in the community and we have searched for numerous homes for them, for a very, very long time. It is a difficult thing. If we are having trouble finding housing for friends, I know that many, many other people in the IDD population are having a very hard time."

She says it’s important to show the people who live there how much they are cared about.

"I love every single one of them so much,” said Watkins. “It is a blessing to walk onto this campus and be greeted with, 'hey, how are you, oh my gosh,' hugs, I love yous. They are a special, special community of people that people need to meet and know about."

What's Next

Gatesway says it is hoping to have the cottages finished by November, before expanding and building more in the future.