Family caregivers of people living with an intellectual or developmental disability may provide more than 25 years of care. And these caregivers are aging. In this next story, we introduce you to a father who is building his adult daughter’s forever home where she will age.
John Micheaels calls his daughter Carrie his miracle child.
“She was born with a very, very rare mitochondrial genetic defect. She was not supposed to live past the age of 12," Micheaels said.
She’s now 39.
“I'm 72, and Mary Lou is 70," Micheaels said, referring to his wife. "So we're no spring chickens. And we've been thinking about it now for some time. It's a concern that I'm sure all parents or family members of folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities have.”
The Micheaels family, along with several partners, are in the early stages of building Nikki’s Next Step, a forever community, on more than 3 acres of land in Glendale.
“The idea is that there will probably be 110 to 120 individuals who will reside there. There will be staffing 24/7," Micheaels said.
The goal is to make these properties affordable. There will also be some low-income units. Roughly 27% of people living with an intellectual or developmental disability live with a family caregiver who’s over the age of 60. Losing a family caregiver can lead to homelessness among this population.
