A dream at least five years in the making is about to become reality at Rantoul’s Hope Meadows neighborhood.

Hope House, a living facility for older residents of that neighborhood, will be built.

A four-unit building is being razed to make way for the new dwelling place on Fairway Drive.
The project is being paid for with two $500,000 Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grants spearheaded by State Sen. Mike Frerichs (D-Champaign) and former State Rep. Bill Black of Danville.

David Hopping, executive managing director of Generations of Hope Development Corp., which is working to replicate Hope Meadows nationwide, said construction is targeted for completion in February.

The dwelling place will be rather unique for the Rantoul area.

“It will be (created) with the most current design thinking of aging in place,” Hopping said.

The homes will be created with older residents in mind and will implement the universal design approach. Two of the age-specific features of the universal design are having no steps and having electrical outlets that are placed higher on the wall to eliminate the need to bend down to plug in an appliance.
Hope House will replace four 1,700-square-feet split-level facilities that were built for non-commissioned officers and their families on the former Chanute Air Force Base.

Hopping said several factors delayed start of the project for several years — not the least of which was finding the right locale.

It was finally decided to build Hope House in as central a location as possible.  

It will be located next to a park where Hope Meadows residents congregate for such activities as Fourth of July and Easter egg hunts.
Just to the east of the park is one of two intergenerational centers where children gather for activities. (In the other intergenerational center, students study and receive tutoring after school.)

“It’s a place people like to gather,” Hopping said of the park area.

Hope House will include five apartments, one of which will be a small apartment for a caregiver. The unit will be termed “co-housing.”

Nicole Thompson, project manager in charge of project demolition and construction, said co-housing means the apartments will share a common area.

It is a concept that is popular in other parts of the country, Hopping said, particularly in Colorado.

Hope Meadows is a neighborhood where neglected and abused children who have been removed from their parents for their safety, find adoptive parents and a permanent home. Also present are honorary grandparents — senior citizens who volunteer their time to help with the youngsters.

Many of the senior citizens have been at Hope Meadows for years, and some are becoming frail. Such a living facility as Hope House is needed.

The Hope Meadows community wants them to remain in the neighborhood.

“As the people get increasingly frail, we want them to remain at the heart of the community,” Hopping said. The apartments “are not only accommodation for now but for end-of-life (scenarios).”

It is hoped, he said, that “assisted living” can be taken out of the equation and that the seniors can live independently until the end of their days.
When Hope House was designed, the thought was to stay away from the look of an assisted-living facility as much as possible, Hopping said, because that is not what Hope House will be.

Hope Meadows also hopes to build another four-unit apartment facility just like the Hope House one.

Also on the wish list is construction of a community center — to be located in the central area where the new housing will go up.

dhinton@rantoulpress.com