When I first began developing True North Living, I spent a lot of time thinking about what a good home should look like for an adult with an intellectual or developmental disability.
Small. Personal.
A place where the people supporting you actually know you.
A place where independence is encouraged, choices are respected, and support is available when you need it.
But eventually another question occurred to me:
What happens when our residents grow older?
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities age just like the rest of us.
The person who once needed very little assistance may eventually need help getting dressed. Stairs may become difficult. Medications may become more complicated. Diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, mobility problems, vision changes, or other age-related health concerns may begin to appear.
Maybe getting into the shower isn’t as easy as it once was.
Maybe preparing a meal becomes harder.
Maybe someone who once needed only a little prompting now needs more hands-on assistance with everyday activities.
None of those things necessarily mean that person needs a nursing home.
But they may mean that the home and support model that worked beautifully at 35 no longer works quite as well at 65.
So Where Do They Go?
That’s the question behind our newest plan:
True North Legacy Living.
Legacy Living will be another arm of the True North family, specifically designed for aging adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities whose health and personal-care needs have increased but who do not require nursing-home-level care.
And just like everything else we’re building at True North, we’re starting with the person rather than the facility.
That means only two residents per Legacy Living home.
Why two?
Because increasing someone’s needs shouldn’t mean decreasing the amount of individual attention they receive.
An older resident may require more assistance with medications, mobility, appointments, personal care, nutrition, or activities of daily living. Two residents allows staff to provide that additional support while preserving something incredibly important:
It is still their home.
Aging Shouldn’t Mean Losing Your Home
One of the principles I want to carry throughout True North is continuity.
Imagine living somewhere for years. You know the staff. You know the neighborhood. You have your routines and your favorite places. You have friends, activities, and a life you’ve built.
Then your health needs change.
Suddenly the answer becomes:
“You can’t live here anymore.”
Sometimes a higher level of care truly is necessary. There may eventually come a time when someone’s medical needs require skilled nursing care that cannot safely be provided in a community residential setting.
But getting older shouldn’t automatically be the reason someone loses the kind of home they love.
With Legacy Living, the question becomes:
Can we change the support around the person instead of expecting the person to fit the same support forever?
That’s the goal.
Knowing the Person Matters
This is also why nursing oversight is such an important part of the True North model.
A medication list tells you what medications someone takes.
A medical record tells you their diagnoses.
But knowing someone tells you something a chart can’t.
“She usually eats a big breakfast. Why hasn’t she eaten much for two days?”
“He’s normally waiting by the door for his afternoon walk. Why doesn’t he want to go today?”
“She’s much quieter than usual.”
“His gait looks different.”
“Something just isn’t right.”
Sometimes those small changes are the first indication of a developing health problem.
Our goal is for the nurses overseeing True North residents to have a manageable enough caseload that they can actually know the people whose health they oversee—not simply recognize their names on a MAR.
Legacy Living will take that philosophy even further because aging residents may have more complex and rapidly changing health needs.
Different Support. Same Expectations.
Legacy Living isn’t about assuming that an older person with an intellectual disability suddenly becomes incapable.
Quite the opposite.
Residents should continue making choices about their lives for as long as they are able.
What do you want for dinner?
What do you want to wear?
Would you rather go shopping or stay home today?
What activities do you enjoy?
What time do you like to get up?
How do you want your room decorated?
Getting older doesn’t erase adulthood.
And needing more assistance doesn’t erase autonomy.
The role of Legacy Living will be to provide more support where more support is needed without unnecessarily taking control away from the person.
Another Point on the True North Compass
True North is gradually becoming more than a residential program.
True North Living will provide small, three-person residential homes where adults with ID/DD can build independent, meaningful lives with appropriate support.
Our respite homes will welcome no more than two guests at a time, giving families and caregivers a break while giving guests a place they can enjoy visiting and hopefully look forward to returning to.
True North Legacy Living will provide two-person homes for adults whose needs change as they age.
True North Properties will provide and maintain the houses that make those homes possible.
And True North Representative Payee Services is being developed separately to help protect and manage the financial interests of individuals who need that assistance.
Different services.
Different stages of life.
But the compass keeps pointing in the same direction:
Know the person. Respect the person. Support the person.
Because a Good Life Doesn’t Have an Age Limit
True North Legacy Living is still a plan for the future.
We will start with one True North Living home and three residents. We’ll learn from it, adjust what needs adjusting, and make the model better.
Then we’ll grow carefully.
Legacy Living will come when we’re ready to do it well—not simply when we’re big enough to do it.
But I believe it’s important to plan for it now.
Because when we talk about supporting adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, we shouldn’t only be asking:
“Where can this person live today?”
We should also be asking:
“How can we help this person continue to have a good life as their needs change?”
That’s what True North Legacy Living is intended to answer.
Aging with dignity. Living with purpose. And always having a place to call home.
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