Glennwood House to break ground Saturday

Glennwood House in Laguna Beach will offer a home for 50 young adults with developmental disabilities.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the 42-room, independent living facility, part of Glennwood Housing Foundation Inc., will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at 2130 S. Coast Hwy. The public is invited.

“This is a pinnacle for us,� said Shauna Bogert, executive director of the facility. “We have the loan, we have the city approval and the permits.

“We are very excited,� she added.

Glennwood Foundation founder Randy Larsen will wield the traditional gold shovel at the groundbreaking. Mayor Jane Egly will participate and a few of the prospective residents may attend.

The foundation’s goal is to meet the social, spiritual and financial needs of the residents as they grow out of their teens and to assure parents that their children will be cared for when the time comes that they can’t, according to the foundation.

Three staff members will live on site, Bogert said. She will be there on a daily basis.

Additional staff, trained in health care and social work, will help residents develop skills such as self-care, meal planning, grocery shopping and money management — steps toward assisted independence. They will also get help in finding jobs.

Glennwood House is located on the site of the former seniors’ assisted living facility. The 30,000-square-foot residential facility will be American Disability Act and Community Care License compliant, with living, dining, kitchen, recreational and social spaces, according to the foundation website.

The Glennwood Housing Foundation Inc. began in 2003 as a spinoff of the original Glennwood Foundation Inc., also known as The Lighthouse Group. It is a nonprofit foundation.

For more information, call (949) 333-1431.

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