Virginia residents with disabilities need more opportunities to live fully independent lives.

The Commonwealth of Virginia has consistently ranked at the bottom group of the 50 United States in opportunities for persons with developmental disabilities. The fact that they were cited by the Department of Justice after parents complained, about spending too much on state institutions and not enough on other options in the local communities, contributed to this problem of not being at the forefront of new ideas.  

Some local non-profits help by providing some options but still today, there is a severe lack of options to have access to a full life. After high school, there are very few opportunities, and not only do they have hopes and dreams of their own, but their parents also worry about what will happen to them when they are no longer able to support them. Vanguard Landing will offer individuals the level of support they need to live their life as independently as possible.  

Vanguard Landing, a 501 ©3 nonprofit, was created by our Founder to address the problem of a lack of opportunities for those with disabilities with the development of a comprehensive, sustainable Intentional Community in Virginia Beach that will provide a safe and innovative place for people with disabilities as well as those without. 

Vanguard Landing will offer numerous options to live, work and socialize because one size does not fit all.

Vanguard Landing will provide its residents and day participants numerous opportunities on-site as well as off-site to reach their greatest potential and achieve their personal goals in all areas of their lives including life skills, continuing education, job skill development, leisure time utilization, expressive arts, lifelong fitness, and community involvement. 

Vanguard Landing will have onsite Enterprises such as the Bridlefield Manor Special Events Center, Van Dough’s Bakery and Sandwich Shop; Van-Bloomingdeals Thrift Shoppe, Lindsey Grace’s Farmhouse Restaurant, and The Van Garden Farm Market. We will also partner with local businesses for offsite opportunities. 

Vanguard Landing is part of an expanding Intentional Community.

Over 120 Intentional Communities, like Vanguard Landing, are not only thriving but also expanding. This model of an Intentional Community may be a newer concept to Virginia, but it’s not new nationwide. We have strong partnerships with these sister communities across the United States as we belong to Together for Choice and network! 

Our target population, those in the mild to moderate category of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, deserve to be offered numerous options to live, work and socialize because one size does not fit all.

Vanguard Landing has a plan in place to become a Live, Work, and Play community!

We have worked very hard over the last 12 years to find land, establish our nonprofit, raise funds, establish our program, and spread the word about what Vanguard Landing is all about!  

We currently have over 400 families on our Waitlist to access our program. We will be the first Intentional Community of its kind in Virginia and Vanguard Landing will help with the severe lack of opportunities so there are many people very excited! We are considering building at least three Intentional Communities in Virginia to help even more.  

Our Groundbreaking will kick off an estimated 24 months of construction to complete Phase One. Phase One will include some five-bedroom cottages, some one-bedroom townhouses, our main Gathering Point building, and the beginning of our VanGarden. It will allow us to have a mix of disabled and non-disabled living and enjoying life together.  

We plan to have at least 185 full-time residents when fully built.  We will also welcome another 50 or so day program participants when fully built.   

Vanguard Landing will be a Live, Work, and Play community with the support and safety in place for those that choose to be here but with NUMEROUS opportunities that foster growth and development, connections, and friendships for a lifetime. 

Over a decade of planning has gone into Vanguard Landing with much more to do.

In 2010 and 2011, a group of parents, family members, and community members gathered with a goal in mind – to help solve this problem of lack of options. With the research our Founder conducted, the Vanguard Landing project was born.  

It took 3 years, to find the perfect location to build our project. We celebrated the finding in the summer of 2013 and securing of our beautiful parcel of land in February 2014. 

During 2014, 2015, and 2016, we began communicating with prospective families, started designing what we would have on-site, and began branding and marketing with our fundraisers/friend-raisers. Our architectural and engineering team began working hard to prepare our site plan and building designs.  

In the Fall of 2016 – the second large hurricane hit Virginia Beach hard and an unofficial pause in development in the southern area of Virginia Beach started as the City of Virginia Beach wanted to ensure any new developments would not be subjected to or cause more flooding issues in our city.   

In 2017, the City started working to resolve flooding issues and hired a company in California to study and present new guidelines that would work best for future developments and current developments in the City of Virginia Beach.  During these years, 2017-2020 we continued to work – building our Board of Directors, hosting fundraising events, working with families to prepare for their futures, and doing everything we could while we awaited the new guidelines.  

In the fall of 2019, Vanguard Landing began its relationship with Virginia Housing with the goal of acquiring funding in order to get our project under construction. With a development costing   $30-40 million, we came to realize that a Construction Loan was going to be needed to complement what funds we were able to raise from Donors.  

In August 2020, the Stormwater guidelines were voted on by VB City Council and this is when our engineering team began to revise our original Site Plan design as necessary to meet the guidelines that were adopted.   

We have had a long road, yet we are grateful to be where we are today and are thankful to all who’ve supported our mission and joined in the efforts throughout the years.  

Our success helps not only our target population but everyone around us as we will raise awareness of the capabilities of this population and will give everyone a wonderful place to interact together and coexist where everyone is truly celebrated and supported as needed.