Southampton Awards $630,000 Grant to Housing for Autistic Adults

Autistic adults, their families and supporters burst into applause Tuesday afternoon when the Southampton Town Board voted unanimously to award a $630,000 housing grant to help a nonprofit take ownership of a five-bedroom house in Shinnecock Hills that will be dedicated to housing for adults on the autism spectrum.

The group, Luv Michael Homes, created by Southampton parents of an autistic man, already operates three homes around Southampton that provide supported independent living for 10 autistic adults.

The grant, which will be paid from Community Housing Fund revenues, will allow the group to pay off the remaining mortgage on the five-bed, five-bath home at 49 St. Andrews Road. The homeowners, who are not named in the grant application, have agreed to donate the house to Luv Michael Homes.

The Town Board on Tuesday heard an outpouring of approval for the grant proposal from supporters of the organization, residents of current Luv Michael homes and local leaders.

“Thank you for your belief in this mission — this moment means the world to families of special needs children,” said Dr. Lisa Liberatore, who founded Luv Michael with her husband, Dr. Dimitri Kessaris, in 2015.

Liberatore quoted Mother Theresa: “The greatest poverty is not lack of money or food but the feeling of being forgotten uncared for and unloved,” and said that the support Southampton community has shown for the program already has changed the lives of many on the spectrum. “We are here today to speak of a community that refuses to let our sons and daughters feel forgotten, a community that has embraced them with love, dignity and purpose.”

Luv Michael started as a small homemade granola company, created by Liberatore and Kessaris, to give their son, Michael, something meaningful to dedicate himself to.

“As we grew, we realized the much harder question to answer is: How do we ensure that our children lead lives of dignity and purpose beyond their parents’ lifetimes?” Liberatore said. “We knew we needed an innovative residential model, one that offers individualized lifelong support and genuine community.”

Jenna Carvalho was one of the first residents of a Luv Michael Home residence, with Liberatore’s son and two others on the autism spectrum, and a residential aide.

“Luv Michael has changed my life,” Carvalho told the Town Board on Tuesday, drawing a burst of applause from the standing-room-only crowd of supporters when she got up to speak. “I love Southampton. I have a huge love for the Southampton Playhouse for offering me employment three months ago, so that is incredible. I have made lifelong friends who can tell you how amazing this is.”

Carvalho’s dad, Joe, said that the “generosity and love that has been showered on Jenna and the other residents is amazing.

“Living in a residence is one thing, but to actually be contributing to the community, to be out in a community, to work in a community, to make friends here, to achieve relationships like they’ve never had.”

More than 90 percent of adults with autism are unemployed, Liberatore said, and many rarely interact with anyone other than their parents and their immediate support staff.

The Luv Michael Home model puts young adults on the autism spectrum together and helps them connect with the Southampton community, through jobs and activities like surfing, lifeguard training and rowing.

The group’s role in the lives of autistic adults has mushroomed, and Luv Michael now holds an annual conference in Southampton for families and those who work with autistic adults from around the world to discuss its model for helping autistic adults lead more independent and enriched lives.

“What they are really doing is raising the bar in terms of care and quality of life for people on the autism spectrum,” Father Constantine Lazarakis of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons, which has worked with Luv Michael since its founding.

“One of the things that’s happened in our church is … we burst the autism bubble,” Constantine said. “The people in this room can attest, they have meaningful relationships, with members of our church, with fellow employees, with their rowing coaches, with all the activities they are involved in that are facilitate by Luv Michael.

“You will be helping to burst the autism bubble in Southampton and setting a standard and a model for other communities of the world.”

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine penned a letter of resounding support for the project, which was read into the record for the Town Board on Tuesday by Southampton Village Mayor Bill Manger, and spotlighted the dire need for more housing, employment and socialization for autistic adults.

“Across our region, we are witnessing a growing socioeconomic crisis impacting individuals on the autism spectrum as they age out of school-based services. Thousands of young adults are left without viable residential options, while aging parents struggle with the increasing demands of long-term care.

“The availability of certified group homes continue to fall well short of the needs,” Romaine wrote. “For the past five years, Luv Michael have been vital contributors to the Suffolk community, providing high-quality programs and services for hundreds of autistic adults and individuals with special needs. Their presence enriches our region, hosting inclusive community dances, supporting Surfers Healing events, and convening an annual national conference to share best practices and expand knowledge.”

The town’s Community Housing Fund advisory committee unanimously supported awarding the full grant amount to Luv Michael, its chairwoman, Joy Cianci, told the board at the start of Tuesday’s meeting. It would be the first CHF grant to go to housing for disabled adults — a priority of the housing fund’s founding mission.

The grant would place a deed restriction on the property that would require, in perpetuity, that it be occupied only by persons with a disability, in the low to moderate income range.

Cinch said the board recommended that in order to protect the perpetual benefits of the grant money awarded, the committee said the town should impose some caveats on the grant to account for the potential that Luv Michael might someday need to sell the house. If it did, the group would have to pay back the $650,000 grant award, plus 15 percent of the equity growth.

The Town Board agreed and approved the grant award unanimously.

Will Powers, whose son is also a Luv Michael resident, said he thinks the group and its model is going to play an important role in the care and understanding of what adults on the autism spectrum need long into the future.

“They bring a whole network circle of care, people who look after these kids help them get into the community. My son jack loves Southampton — he goes to Union Burger, Coopers Beach, he’s marched in the parade with the Ocean Rescue people. How he’s been integrated has been nothing short of marvelous,” Powers said.

“I believe Southampton is going to be known as one of the sources of the solutions for this terrible problem that is facing a lot of parents.”