Ground broken on Ursuline property for developmentally disabled housing

By Jeff Piorkowski/special to cleveland.com

PEPPER PIKE, Ohio -- Wednesday (Sept. 13) was a joyous day for several local adults who have intellectual or developmental disabilities, their parents, the nonprofit organization Medina Creative Housing and the City of Pepper Pike.

That’s because ground was ceremoniously broken for the 24-home development Creative Living for Life at Ursuline Sisters.

A crowd of about 100 people were in attendance under a large tent to hear Medina Creatine Housing CEO Dianne DePasquale-Hagerty, Ursuline Sisters President Sister Ritamary Welsh, Ursuline College President Sister Christine De Vinne, Mayor Richard Bain and others speak about the asset the homes will be to those who need such residences.

“We’ve been working on this a long time -- 11 years,” DePasquale-Hagerty said of the Pepper Pike project, which will be built over the next year on 3.5 acres off Fairmount Boulevard, just south of Ursuline College and north of the Merici Crossings building.

Merici Crossings opened in 2019 as home to Ursuline nuns.

“There will be 24 homes, and each one is being designed to accommodate the person who is going to live there,” DePasquale-Hagerty said.

The 24 residents have already been selected, and DePasquale-Hagerty said 10 of them are currently Pepper Pike residents who will be able to remain in the city, near family. All but one now live in a community near Pepper Pike.

Pepper Pike’s Nicole Twells is the parent of Charlotte Twells, 24, who will take up residence at the new development when it is expected to open in September 2024.

Charlotte Twells is looking forward to living independently in her new home.

In addition to providing a first independent home for its residents, the homes represent great comfort to the residents’ parents who, as they age, have been concerned about their children’s welfare after they are gone.

“It’s a great comfort to all the families,” Nicole Twells said of the new homes. “When (Charlotte) was 12 or 13, we were starting to worry about” her eventual future.

Nicole Twells said she contacted DePasquale-Hagerty a few years ago, but was told that Medina Creative Housing’s other such development for adults in Medina was already filled.

She was elated to hear that the organization was seeking to build a similar development in Pepper Pike, and waited as progress was slowly made to bring it about.

“This is the answer to our prayers,” she said. “I can finally go to sleep and have a good night’s sleep.”

Medina Creative Housing will also soon break ground on another such development in Middleburg Heights.

Nearly all of the future residents of the Ursuline homes were present at the ceremony. One of them, Jared Stearns, followed this mother, Trudy Stearns, to the microphone as she addressed the gathering.

After Trudy Stearns expressed her thanks for the development coming about, Jared told the audience that he could hardly wait to live on his own and do things such as watch a movie whenever he wished.

The homes are to be built in a circular formation on property that was formerly home to the old Ursuline mothers house, which had stood since 1958 as the home for Ursuline nuns.

The ceremony was at times emotional for DePasquale-Hagerty, as she received hugs, flowers and thanks from the future residents and their parents.

To make the development a reality, Medina Creative Housing partnered with the Ursuline Sisters, who saw the project as a way to further their mission of helping others.

Dianne DePasquale-Hagerty, right, CEO of Medina Creative Housing, has formed bonds with the future residents of the Creative Living for Life at Ursuline Sisters development, including Charlotte Twells. (Jeff Piorkowski, special to cleveland.com)

“What an exciting evening for all of us,” Sister Welsh told the audience, and in particular the future residents and their parents.

”On behalf of the Ursuline Sisters, we welcome you and want you to know that you have now all become a very important part of the Ursuline family, and always will be.

“There were times we thought this project might never happen,” she said. “Yet with God’s help, Dianne’s determination, and the persistence of so many of you, here on this beautiful evening we are gathered for our groundbreaking.

“This is a dream come true, so let the celebration begin.”

Among those in attendance was TV personality Geraldo Rivera, who after the ceremony said he heard about the event from a Shaker Heights neighbor and came to lend his support.

Rivera has for many years been a supporter of Life’s WORC, which provides support and services for those who have intellectual and development disabilities in Queens, Manhattan, Nassau and Suffolk Counties in New York.

He said he plans to stay in touch with Creative Living for Life at Ursuline Sisters.

DePasquale-Hagerty introduced Bain, with appreciation for him keeping the lines of communication open with her organization and for the city’s support.

Bain generated a large round of applause when he said, “First of all, welcome to the new residents of Pepper Pike.”

He continued by stating: “We’re thrilled to have you join us in our community. Pepper Pike has for decades had welcome and opening arms for those with special needs and challenges and their families. Our school system has for decades supported those needs.

“And to have this facility come to fruition in the next year is just a thrill and another step along the way for not only you, our new residents, but for the city itself.”