Our FAQs

An intentional community is simply a residential community that is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork.

Vanguard Landing (VGL) is an Intentional Community and the first of its kind and scope in the Commonwealth of Virginia, but not a new concept across the country.  

VGL is also a member of the National Together for Choice advocacy group. Together for Choice is a 501(c)(3) organization made up of individuals and all types of residential communities for those with Intellectual and developmental differences whose purpose is to promote the right of all individuals with developmental disabilities and their families to choose where to live and how to spend their days.

All the other intentional neighborhoods are thriving communities and represent some of the highest quality and most creative service options to meet the diverse needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

Everyone has the right to choose where they live. Thriving communities for seniors are embraced -why shouldn’t individuals with different support needs be given that choice? Vanguard Landing is simply another choice to help with the severe lack of options.

No. The Intentional Community concept actively promotes engaging the individuals they serve with non-disabled individuals through a variety of vocational and recreational activities chosen by the individual and his or her family. In fact, many of these individuals have tried living in small homes in neighborhoods and have found such settings to be extremely isolating and detrimental to their health and happiness.

Vanguard Landing will have a beautiful and dynamic neighborhood that will be a shining example of a true community with everyone receiving whatever level of support they need. While we, of course, are focused on the needs of our friends with ID/DD, we will also have neuro-typical adults who also live in the neighborhood. A supportive neighborhood with incredible amenities within walking distance is what many want and deserve.

Our well-planned community is not only designed to be interactive and self-sustaining within itself, it also is set up to collaborate and be utilized by all members of our greater community. We are excited to utilize all partnerships with businesses and other providers.

Vanguard Landing will be a model to follow when it comes to integration and collaboration for the good of all.

When fully built, Vanguard Landing plans to have 185 full-time residents living in the community and additional 50-day participants who will live elsewhere. Phase One will have 128 residents, some with ID/D and some with neuro-typical. There are several different plans in the works for types of housing that will be available besides the first phase. Phase One Development is a 43-million-dollar project with the required site work and stormwater improvements to help the surrounding neighborhoods.

The Mission of Vanguard Landing is to provide residential, pre-vocational, employment, and recreational opportunities for adults who among all of their special gifts, have an intellectual or developmental disability. Our aim is to support those in the mild to moderate disabled range but we acknowledge that everyone is an individual; therefore our admissions process looks at each person to ensure we can adequately meet their support needs. There is an in-depth process to evaluate our applicants and renters to ensure we are a good fit for each other.

The minimum age is 18 or when they have graduated from high school and there are no maximum age limits. The intention is that our residents will stay with us as long as they wish and as long as we can meet their needs. Our community is planned to be an aging-in-place community.

The rent, via a lease and Supported Living Service Fees cover almost everything with the exception of Medical Insurance, co-pays, medications, clothing, and travel.

Rent/Services Fees cover everything including a private room, private bathroom, food, utilities, on-site activities, amenities, and programs, including pre-vocational programming, and transportation. Residents must have their own medical insurance.

Admissions and Financial Fact Finder Packets are available via download under Admissions Tab or can be mailed to you. Click here to access them.

Step One: Complete both packets and mail them back to Vanguard Landing with all of the attachments and the check for $250 for Financial review (there’s a checklist to help). The applicants and their families will be notified that we have received it. If any main information is missing, it will slow your process down.

Step Two: The Financial Review begins as well as the Admissions Review Process to ensure all information is complete and correct to the standards we require to process for confident acceptance. You will have several conversations with the VGL staff regarding all your information and we will assist you along the way.

Step Three: Upon acceptance, the family will again be notified and will be sent an invoice for the admissions fee. Once received, the applicant will be placed on our waiting list.

*We are almost half full for Phase One so time is of the essence to get the Admissions Packets back to us!

We have a rolling Waitlist which means that we will be placing persons in the order that they are accepted and paid. If the accepted candidate is not ready at the time a room becomes available, then the person would go back on the waiting list in the order they were and the next person on the list would be offered the room.

Vanguard Landing’s Business Plan was developed to meet and actually exceed the requirements to be both a private pay and Medicaid waiver provider. There is a process, and our staff has been working with the state agencies for a few years and has started the licensure process to be a supported living provider and we have to go through the process like all providers. Vanguard abides by ALL of the HCBS guidelines and because of Ohlmstead and the DOJ settlement, Vanguard will be a help and a win-win for the Commonwealth.

There is a severe lack of opportunities for our target population and almost all of the adults on our waitlist and applicant list, currently have NOTHING appropriate to choose from for living or employment. Some have already gotten approved for a Medicaid Waiver, but have nowhere to safely use them. This is why we are very much needed.  We need as many options as people can create to provide full choice and a range of opportunities.  Vanguard Landing will proudly join the over 124 other Intentional Communities to offer this innovative and forward-thinking option.

There is a long waitlist of citizens who want access to a Medicaid Waiver, which means there is a need for more Private Pay options. Most people don’t realize that in VA many of the few residential options are accessed only by having a Medicaid Waiver. 

If a person has not received a Medicaid Waiver (and some never will because there’s a limit to state funding of course) they must find private pay options.

Vanguard Landing is FIRM on the belief that to have TRUE CHOICE – we must be available to both Medicaid Waivers and Private Pay. We are willing to do the work to become a Licensed New Provider.  Everyone should be reminded that limiting peoples’ choices violates their civil rights AND for those who do have access to a Medicaid Waiver, you are LEGALLY allowed to use it wherever YOU choose.

We already have three endowment funds that donors can contribute to Scholarship, Maintenance, and The VanGarden.

Yes. Vanguard Landing will provide transportation to appointments and off-site employment, community outings, shopping, etc. Residents who have their own cars or who want to use alternate transportation can do that also.

Vanguard Landing will offer at least two different living arrangements: five-bedroom, one-story cottages, and one-bedroom, one-story rowhouses. The homes will be single-gender. The exception would be a married couple renting a one-bedroom rowhouse. There are plans in the works for other options too.

After researching other Intentional Communities and visiting them to see innovative ideas for more options for the population we aim to serve, our Founder brought forth the idea to create an Intentional Community in Virginia. Vanguard Landing will be a new Intentional Community following in the footsteps of many forward-thinking communities around the country. Some have been around a long time and are full of waitlists and some are about to build like Vanguard and some are in the planning stages. To find the funds to create something like this has taken many on average 12-15 years to get from idea to opening.