Shovels hit the dirt in Bellevue on Wednesday as Springboard Landings celebrated the groundbreaking of a 24-unit affordable housing development built specifically for adults with developmental disabilities. The $7.5 million project is slated to open in early 2028, giving residents what organizers describe as a permanent, supportive community designed around independence and dignity.
The nonprofit calls the project its flagship Home with Heart, and according to The Joplin Globe, the development is meant to offer independence and community for residents who often face limited earning potential and social isolation. As reported by send2press.com, Springboard Landings designed the building as a twenty-four-unit intentional community meant to overcome isolation and encourage independence, and the Springboard Landings Board of Directors hosted Wednesday's ceremony.
Father Mark Hunt opened the event with a prayer and blessed the land before the crowd gathered for the occasion, per the same announcement. The gathering showcased collaboration among state and local government agencies, nonprofits and private businesses, with District 22 council member Sheri Weiner telling attendees that Springboard Landings is about creating a place where adults with developmental disabilities can live independently, affordably and with dignity. District 23 council member Jason Spain and Bellevue Harpeth Chamber of Commerce executive director Charlie Tygard also took part in the ceremony.
Who's Paying for Home with Heart
Funding partners named in the project announcement include the Barnes Housing Trust Fund, the Tennessee Housing Development Agency, Studio Bank and the Tennessee Titans ONE Community. The Tennessee Housing Development Agency previously awarded Springboard Landings $600,000 from the Tennessee Housing Trust Fund in June 2025, a grant intended to help close the gap on a building that will include 19 units dedicated to adults with developmental disabilities and five units for residents without disabilities, according to the agency's announcement.
The building design also includes a salaried resident services coordinator along with common spaces for supportive programs and activities, per the same source. Springboard Landings founder Charlie Cooper struck a cautious tone about the work still ahead, saying fundraising remains a priority. “We're not at the finish line. We've just made it to the beginning,” Cooper said, according to send2press.com.
Building Partners Behind the Project
Springboard Landings is co-developing the project with Nelson Community Partners, described by send2press.com as a Nashville-based real estate and urban development consulting firm that collaborates with mission-driven organizations to build and preserve affordable and mixed-income housing. Manuel Zeitlin Architects designed the development, and construction is being handled by The Clear Blue Company. The civil-engineering firm on the project is listed as CSDG in send2press.com's announcement, though The Joplin Globe's reporting names CSH in that role; the property-management partner is likewise listed differently across accounts, with send2press.com pointing to Freeman Webb and The Joplin Globe naming Greenman Webb. Elizabeth Grapentine serves as Springboard Landings executive director, and the organization describes itself as a nonprofit.
A Statewide Housing Gap
The project arrives against a backdrop of documented housing strain for Tennesseans with disabilities. The Tennessee Housing Development Agency has noted that Tennesseans with disabilities and aging Tennesseans together make up 48% of the state's population requiring affordable housing, totaling 104,373 individuals, and that a household with a disability cannot afford the median rental unit in any county in the state, per the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.
A 2025 statewide needs assessment from the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center found housing to be one of the five priorities most frequently selected by respondents, with limited availability of affordable and safe housing options identified as a key theme. Housing was the only priority selected across all groups in the assessment's role-specific findings, and the same report found just 34% of participants reported having access to the disability services they need.
Other Nashville-area organizations have taken a similar approach to community living. Our Place Nashville partners with nonprofit organizations to operate brick-and-mortar Friendship Houses for adults with developmental disabilities, and the organization says it currently runs five such communities, each designed with a ratio of two adults with developmental disabilities for every three neurotypical adults.
For now, Bellevue's project remains in its earliest physical stage, with the groundbreaking marking the start of construction rather than its conclusion. Springboard Landings has set an early 2028 target for opening the doors to its first residents.
