June 2008: Voices and Visions
It’s Official! Virginia Has Its First EasyLiving Home!

For nearly a year, Voices & Visions has tracked the progress of bringing the EasyLiving Home program to the Commonwealth. Since our last update, two important goals have been achieved. Over the winter, representatives of the Board, Virginia Housing Development Authority, Home Builders Association of Virginia and other key groups joined together as directors of the nonprofit Virginia Assistive Technology Solutions, Inc., and obtained a license to certify EasyLiving Homes in Virginia. Then, on March 13, 2008, that organization officially certified Virginia’s first EasyLiving Home at 2332 Thomas Kenney Drive in Glen Allen. The event attracted prominent media attention and a large crowd of community and industry leaders who toured the house and learned more about the EasyLiving Home concept.

That concept and its potential are easy to understand. The certification opportunity encourages builders to include cost-effective features that enhance a home’s accessibility and visit-ability. The readily identifiable certification mark lets realtors and homebuyers know that those value-added, lifestyle-enhancing features are present.

The EasyLiving Home program helps both the disability and aging communities break into the mainstream housing market and influences how architects and builders design and construct new homes by promoting greater functionality and convenience for owners and guests across their entire lifetimes. Steve Thomas, president of Steven Thomas Homes, builder of Virginia’s first EasyLiving Home, closely followed the program’s progress as it was developed in Georgia then adapted to other states. Describing their 3,145 sq. ft., five-bedroom EasyLiving Home, he emphasized its “appeal to a wide group, including parents of young children in strollers as well as aging baby boomers who like the comfort of a stair-free entrance.”

Partnerships forged to make EasyLiving Homes a reality in Virginia have been productive and represent one sustainable solution to building inclusive and welcoming communities. Additional Virginia EasyLiving Homes are planned and under construction, and the certifying organization is pleased to announce that Patrick Johnson of AARP has joined its board of directors. In coming months, he and his fellow directors and their organizations will work to expand statewide awareness of the EasyLiving Home concept and encourage many more builders to enroll in the program. [Download the PDF here]