HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Tampa city leaders will discuss housing options for people with disabilities. A group that aims to foster inclusive housing communities will present its idea to council members today.
The Hive Inclusive Community is working to create a living community in Tampa that will give people with disabilities a place to live and a community to be a part of.
This idea all came to be when the founder's son wanted to move into his own place.
“I have a 29-year-old son with cerebral palsy. He desperately wants to be able to live on his own. He wants to have his own community to feel independent,” Tonya Whitlock said.
Whitlock was trying to help her son find a place to live.
“In our search for him, there was nothing available for him in Florida that looked like that kind of space,” she said.
Whitlock is hoping to create a space that would give her son and his peers a community to live and work in.
She said 50% of the units would be for individuals with disabilities, and the other half would be for other high-risk populations.
“Young people transitioning out of foster care, the elderly, our veterans… So it'll be not only multigenerational but an inclusive environment for individuals with disabilities,” Whitlock said.
She explained this space will give those people a place to live but also a community to be apart of. There would be a coffee shop, gym and daycare.
The project is still in the works.
The Hive Inclusive Community has renderings drawn up of what the living space would look like, but they do not have land to build it on. That is one thing they will discuss during the Tampa City Council meeting.
