07-03-2025
LifeQuest's mini home village to provide independent living for those with developmental disabilities
Mar. 6—MITCHELL — LifeQuest has requested the city of Mitchell be the sponsoring agency for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to build four to six tiny houses.
The houses, to be built on Eighth Avenue at North Gamble Street, will be independent living quarters for people with developmental disabilities and have remote overnight staff support.
"It's going to provide an option for people (with developmental disabilities) to actually do something that they've never done before, and that's to have a home of their own," LifeQuest Executive Director Pam Hanna said during a regular Mitchell City Council meeting on Monday, March 3.
The inquiry on Monday was only a discussion item for the council, but there will be a formal request by LifeQuest for the city to sponsor the community block grant on Monday, March 17 during the regular meeting of the city council.
The project is estimated to cost somewhere between $1.5 million to $2 million, according to LifeQuest Development Director Brian Loken. The CDBG program will pay for an estimated half of the project, with the mini homes project competing against other applications for funding. LifeQuest will seek local fundraising for the project.
"I think it's just having the same things in life that everybody else has," Hanna told the Mitchell Republic. "Most people have goals and dreams and desires, one of those is to have our own home. There's quite a sense of pride that goes with that, and you decorate in the way you want, and your personality shines through your own home."
The project, if the grant application is approved, will break ground in the summer and house interiors would get finishing touches in the fall, according to Loken. Residents would be able to move in by Christmas.
"We'll try to match that home environment with the person, and take whoever in terms of the best fit, as well as who is the most interested," Loken said.
LifeQuest plans to use remote monitoring technology to address overnight staffing shortages, with staff presence on hand at a village community office during waking hours.
Remote technology is used in nursing homes, community support providers, and the homes of the elderly, according to Hanna.
"It helps people to stay in their homes more independently," Hanna said. "Remote technology can do anything from making sure people's doors are locked to their stoves are off, or it may sense if somebody falls or has a seizure."
Cameras would not be in bedrooms or bathrooms, according to Hanna.
"We'd have protocols in place that, within seconds, somebody locally will be notified, and we've got a group home just north of there to take the emergency burden before other staff can make it there," Loken said.
Each tiny home will be about 650 to 750 square feet, and include a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, and an area outside for entertaining visitors. Plans include a small office with a community area and a garage for a LifeQuest vehicle.
"Not all structures will have a garage, because people rely on us to drive them to shopping or to the Corn Palace to a game, or wherever they're going," Hanna said. "They're going to have their own refrigerator, their own stove, their own couch, and even their own remote control."
During Monday's meeting, Hanna and Loken shared with the council about the tiny home project.
"We believe that this project will be unique to Mitchell, but also to the state of South Dakota specifically for helping people with developmental disabilities," Loken told the council.
Hanna expressed that the mini homes project has support from the South Dakota Division of Developmental Disabilities.
"What we hope to do is to provide people who have never actually had their own front door an opportunity to do that," Hanna said.
LifeQuest has operated in Mitchell since 1959, and has about 200 people on staff to serve 160 individuals. LifeQuest has about a dozen housing options for adults with developmental disabilities, according to Loken.
The CDBG program is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and administered by the South Dakota Governor's Office of Economic Development. The CDBG program requires a percentage of the total project cost to be paid through local funds.
Applications for the CDBG program are handled by one of the state's six planning districts, and would run through Planning and Development District III, of which Davison County is included. A representative from the District III planning office will be at City Hall during the Monday, March 17 council meeting to answer questions.
If the grant is approved, the city will pass through the grant funds to LifeQuest. The city has also acted as a sponsoring agency for
Safe Place of Eastern South Dakota's $2.2 million CDBG.
The application deadline is April 1, and the architectural design and estimate will be ready before then.
"I go to meetings with my counterparts of directors across the state of South Dakota, and I brag all the time about the good-hearted people in Mitchell and our connections and our partnerships, and how you guys embrace us, and you walk with us in many areas of life, and we're blessed to live here," Hanna said.
