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'DRAFT
<br /> 1 create innovative social opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I am the co-founder of
<br /> 2 Blossom Farm, a Chapel Hill-based flower farm and design studio that I co-operate with my oldest son, Ramey, who is
<br /> 3 26 and has a diagnosis of autism. Our family built our home just outside of Saxapahaw in 2010. My house and my
<br /> 4 son's house and our farm are located just 3 minutes from the project site on 54. My two teenagers were students at the
<br /> 5 Haw Bridge School. My oldest is now a senior at Cedar Ridge. We regularly attend events at The Ballroom. We have
<br /> 6 loves Saturdays in Saxapahaw for years. We are frequent fliers at the Sax General Store and have spent countless
<br /> 7 hours kayaking and paddle boarding on the Haw River. When we moved here, I was told by my friend, who also
<br /> 8 happens to be a local Orange County architect who designed our home, and her husband, who is a local Orange
<br /> 9 County builder who built our home, that I was moving into the best-kept secret of all of North Carolina. I truly had no
<br /> 10 idea just how great and how lucky we would be to land here. This is my home, and we have created community and
<br /> 11 family here in a way that I never knew was possible. Our family launched Blossom Farm in the spring of 2016. It was
<br /> 12 our desire to connect our son, Ramey, to nature, purposeful work, service, friendship, and to grow a system of natural
<br /> 13 support. I never anticipated how it would grow into this life-changing microenterprise that has provided Ramey with a
<br /> 14 vehicle to demonstrate the capability and the potential of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to
<br /> 15 contribute beautifully to the local economy. It has been a magnificent gift to watch his transformation over the past 7
<br /> 16 years and to witness his ability to access meaningful work every day, connect with land, cultivate loveliness, and give
<br /> 17 back to others, and how it's put him on a path of positive mental and physical health outcomes, not to mention
<br /> 18 happiness and a level of independence we were once informed would never be attainable. I feel unbelievably lucky. 1
<br /> 19 am also a graduate-level macro social worker. I'm a UNC alum. I study the intersections of culture, nature, and mental
<br /> 20 and primary health outcomes for folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities. And while I am so grateful to be
<br /> 21 given the opportunity to watch Ramey live into the benefits of that lifestyle, my desire is to create spaces where a
<br /> 22 greater number of folks on the ability spectrum can enjoy a similar sense of belonging and joy. There are an estimated
<br /> 23 2 '/2 million individuals with disabilities in North Carolina and approximately 13,000 individuals with disabilities in Orange
<br /> 24 County. Adults with disabilities are 50 percent more likely to experience clinical loneliness and depression, 45 percent
<br /> 25 more likely to struggle with obesity, and 30 percent more likely to have heart disease or diabetes. 90 percent of adults
<br /> 26 with autism are unemployed, and 72 percent of case managers nationwide report difficulty in finding available direct
<br /> 27 support providers, which is the paraprofessional workforce that facilitates active engagement for those with disabilities
<br /> 28 in personal, vocational, and social environments. The very heart of our project seeks to provide a space for people of
<br /> 29 all abilities to connect, experience ways to give and receive support, and access innovative opportunities that address
<br /> 30 the social determinants of health. There is no other facility with a similar intention in Orange County. We believe that
<br /> 31 by making the effort to build a more aware and inclusive community, using a creative and socially integrated business
<br /> 32 model, our center will promote public health and improve the general welfare of our community's most vulnerable
<br /> 33 populations in a way that could make our county a welcome and safe home for everyone. Thank you.
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<br /> 35 Ryan Moffitt: If it's okay, I'm going to ask a couple of questions of Ms. Sorenson to elaborate on, and one of those is if
<br /> 36 you could please talk about the process for identifying this property and why you and your partners arrived at this
<br /> 37 property?
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<br /> 39 Rebecca Sorenson: Well, I mean, largely, I live right down the road, and my kids go to, went to Haw Bridge School.
<br /> 40 And I would drive by this property every day. And I would see the sign. And I had been talking with Hope for a long
<br /> 41 time about this vision I had about, you know, creating a space where people with disabilities could come together and
<br /> 42 feel a sense of acceptance and belonging, and we could just provide a fun, non-contrived atmosphere for members of
<br /> 43 our community and people with disabilities to come together and be transformed by the gifts that we all have to share
<br /> 44 with each other in this kind of space. And we kind of got some misinformation about the property and about how much
<br /> 45 it costs, and we were like well, and it kind of, we finally just got a bug where we were like we're just going to find out
<br /> 46 who owns this property, and we ended up tracking down Matt McKever and just having long conversations with Matt
<br /> 47 about this what we want to do. This is what we're really interested in. He's like, yep, let's go for it. And we ended up
<br /> 48 closing on the property in 2019. Matt came down. It was the day before Christmas Eve. We spent the entire day
<br /> 49 drinking champagne and walking the property, and he showed us all the old spaces. We talked about all the old trees.
<br /> 50 We learned about the spring house where his family used to keep milk and the cold water. It was a wonderful day. We
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