Looking across a pastoral lot in McKinleyville, Mary Keehn points to a family of deer. "Wait 'til we walk a little further to the farm, then you'll be able to see why this is such a special spot." By next year, she hopes, the edges of this 17-acre lot will be an intentional community for neurodivergent people and their caregivers.
"So, the main impetus was that I have become the guardian for my now 16-year-old granddaughter who has autism. I'm 76."
She pauses.
"In California right now, 80% of folks with developmental disabilities are living with aging caregivers. It's a big number. As we age, what happens to those folks?"
So Keehn bought this parcel and donated it to a nonprofit she founded called "We Are Up.” The dream (literally) is to harness neighborly synergy to help all its residents lead integrated lives. "If you have a child with a disability, often they're not seen by the public, because it's difficult," she says, fighting back tears.
She says healthcare has siloed people who could easily be helping eachother. Keehn cites an example: If a person with autism has difficulty shopping, and an older neighbor has difficulty carrying groceries home, they could help each other on their next store run. "By keeping folks with disabilities in group homes, by keeping seniors in senior centers, by keeping students in dormitories or visiting nursing professionals in VRBOs, people don't build a community. Everybody needs somebody. I think the more we can mix people up, the better our outcomes."
Transcript:
Mary Keehn:
[Wind rustling] …And wait 'til we walk a little further to the farm, then you'll be able to see why this is such a special spot.
Keith Flamer:
Okay, okay. Okay. Oh, man. Okay, now we're looking across…
Anncr:
From the looks of this empty field. You wouldn't know you're in the heart of McKinleyville, but this location is key to its next phase.
Keith Flamer:
So the housing Mary will be right behind us.
Mary Keehn:
And Grocery Outlet is immediately behind. So people who don't drive can go to the grocery store.
Anncr:
Today on Talk Humboldt with Keith and Tom, a new nonprofit aims to establish an inclusive community for folks with disabilities - and for the folks who support them.
Tom Jackson:
Hi, I'm Tom Jackson, president of Cal Poly Humboldt, with my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Keith Flamer, president of the College of Redwoods.
Keith Flamer:
Hey, Tom, it's good to be with you again.
Tom Jackson:
Good to see you. Where are we at right now?
Keith Flamer:
Oh, we are at the We Are Up location, just off of Central. And this is the location of a dream.
Tom Jackson:
The dream of Mary Keehn… We Are Up. Good to see you, Mary.
Mary Keehn:
Thanks. That sounds kind of nice. The dream of the Keehn…
Tom Jackson:
Somewhere along the way, you woke up and said, I want to do this. Talk us through that.
Mary Keehn:
I'll just back up. The dream is real for me. When I thought of Humboldt Fog, it came to me in a dream. And this also came to me in a dream. So if I get a dream, I really pay attention. So, the main impetus was that I have become the guardian for my now 16-year-old granddaughter who has autism.
I'm 76, in California right now, 80% of folks with developmental disabilities are living with aging caregivers. It's a big number as we age. What happens to those folks?
Tom Jackson:
Would you describe what autism is and how it impacts a person?
Mary Keehn:
So to be clear, it's not just autism, but we have future residents with Down's syndrome and other intellectual disabilities. The joke in the autistic world is, if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism.
But for my granddaughter with autism, what it looks like for her is, she is the happiest person you could ever meet. But autism affects everybody differently. Some folks are nonverbal, typically very rule-bound individuals. She loves her rules.
Keith Flamer:
And the vision of We Are Up is to build community. Talk a little bit more about that.
Mary Keehn:
We want to build a place where neighbors of different ages, different abilities, different socioeconomic backgrounds come together to help each other and be part of the community at large.
Long term, we'll have a place where we've got up to 70 units of housing, and we'll be inviting the community itself into where if you have a child with a disability, often they're not seen by the public because it's difficult. [sniffles]
Mary Keehn:
And so, Keith is laughing because I cry really easily. He knows me well, Ben, if you're not seeing, you don't exist. And we all know how hard that is.
Keith Flamer:
Yes. We do.
Mary Keehn:
So here we are two years later, we formed our 501(C3). We've gotten a $1.2 million grant from the Humboldt County Association of Governments, and that also brought 1.4 million to McKinleyville for improved microtransit. So we work together. And that is really the crux of this, is bringing people together to make the community better.
Tom Jackson:
Mary, can you describe the property?
Mary Keehn:
So there's a little over 15.5 acres on the original parcel that is immediately behind Grocery Outlet. We were able to purchase two adjoining properties on Central Avenue, and that will allow us to have access through Central and not come through this neighborhood.
Tom Jackson:
We're here today with Mary Keehn from We Are Up. I walked in and you were describing the history of your name. Can you tell us the backstory to We Are Up.
Mary Keehn:
So We Are Up is just off Weirup Street, and it's the Weirup family that we purchased this land from. So we jokingly called that We Are Up and that became the name of the project.
Tom Jackson:
That's what makes it so positive. Yeah, it was meant to be.
Mary Keehn:
Yeah. It's it's perfect. And it's not just lifting our residents up, but the community.
Keith Flamer:
You want to solve a problem. A problem that, I think that you said is wrong with our society is we are so disconnected, right? And so you want to bring back a connection, but you also use the term stirring the pot. What does that mean when you stir the pot?
Mary Keehn:
Well, by keeping folks with disabilities in group homes, by keeping seniors in senior centers, by keeping students in dormitories or visiting nursing professionals in VRBOs, people don't build a community. Everybody needs somebody. I think the more we can mix people up, the better our outcomes.
Keith Flamer:
So in your vision, when do you break ground? When does everything start construction in your head?
Mary Keehn:
In my vision, it was this spring. In my revised vision it’s next spring.
And so we've also partnered with the Humboldt County Association of Governments to bring in, microtransit for McKinleyville. So we want to be giving back to the community. We've partnered with the FFA kids. We've grown produce and donated to the McKinleyville Family Resource Center. So it's about building community and a strong community that takes care of each other.
Keith Flamer:
So it's also your vision to grow your own food in this area, to be able to to give back.
Mary Keehn:
And that's one of the basic skills you want to teach folks, right? I mean, you want to be able to take care of yourself. So that means being able to fix yourself a meal. So our residents, with the help of seniors, could garden. We're building a commercial kitchen in our community center so they can come and fix a meal.
We can invite the community in. We have a conference center planned so that we can lease out space, and it will open up into the field. How lovely is that? You could run a conference center, and you're supporting a nonprofit and having a gorgeous place to hang out with your group. So we don't want to be always asking for grants. We want to be as self-sufficient as we can.
Keith Flamer:
Mary, how can how can other people, how can your community help you?
Mary Keehn:
Well, we have a lovely website that's WeAreUp.org and there, you can sign up to get our newsletter… but just engage.
Tom Jackson:
Mary Keehn, We Are Up… thank you so much for your time today and sharing with us the story about We Are Up and the vision of community that you have for this. It's it's amazing.
Mary Keehn:
My pleasure.
Anncr:
Mary Keehn of We Are Up on Talk Humboldt with Keith and Tom. To hear more episodes visit KHSU.org.
