MANSFIELD — Mitchell Eisaman and Ryan Monastra are both in their 20s.
They cry when they’re sad and they raise their voices when they’re mad. They laugh when they find something funny and they eat when they’re hungry.
They both look to the future with wide eyes.
But their mothers see only two options for Mitchell and Ryan, who both also happen to have intellectual and developmental disabilities: live at home or live in a facility. Those options are not good enough for Angela Eisaman and Susan Monastra.
“We want the world for our boys just like any other parent,” Monastra said. “But it’s going to be a different way. It’s not going to be the typical path.”
An idea
Three years ago, when friends asked Angela and Susan about their boys’ future, a sadness beyond words swept over them. They knew their boys would never have a normal life because of their disabilities.
“Sad isn’t a good enough word for it. It’s more of a …,” Angela said, searching for a word to describe the emotion swimming within her whenever she thinks of Mitchell’s future. “It’s just this feeling like where are they going to go? What are they going to do?
“I can’t put it in words.”
It was years of this feeling that led her to team up with her friend, Susan Monastra, to conceptualize Taking Root Farms. Susan’s son, Ryan, was born with chromosome deletion — a genetic mutation disorder that results in severe developmental disability.
Taking Root Farms does not exist outside of Angela’s and Susan’s minds, business plans and brochures. But the friends are determined to make it happen.
The farm became a nonprofit in 2015 after the team broke the business model into three phases. After each phase, they hope to have raised $250,000, acquire 20 acres of farmable land, house 35 adults with I/DD and hire staff to manage the 10,000 square-foot facility fashioned with an arts and crafts room, computer lab, gross motor room, library and media center.
Three years later, Taking Roots Farm has raised just under $20,000.
Phase one, providing day services five days per week for 18 adults, will begin once the duo reaches $75,000 in donations.
“It’s going to happen,” Angela said.
For Angela and Susan, the startup process has been slow. But they are not any less motivated to make it happen for their sons and other adults in similar situations.
A need
According to Richland Newhope, there are 440 individuals on waiting lists for residential services in Richland County. However, Richland Newhope Director of Communications Jane Imbody said some of those individuals are not in immediate need.
A chart published by Arc of Ohio shows Ohio as the second state with the most individuals on a waiting list to receive waivers at 37,385. Nationally, 322,273 individuals are on waiting lists.
Angela noted that adults with IDD are living longer because of advances in modern medicine. The waiting list population, therefore, will continue to increase.
According to a Today’s Geriatric Medicine article published in May 2013, the number of adults with I/DD age 60 years and older is projected to nearly double from 641,000 in 2000 to 1.2 million in 2030.
“The system is not broken,” Angela said. “And Richland County does an exceptional job with the disability population. But outside of an urban environment, there isn’t anything within 100 miles of us.”
According to a FAQs sheet authored by Angela, the farm/ranch/rural model of a day habilitation is growing in popularity in the United States — only two such models exist in Ohio.
“We want a place where we know they’re safe, they’re comfortable, they’ve got a smile on their face. They’re doing what they want to do,” Angela said.
Both Angela and Susan agreed their boys enjoy being outside. They believe a rural setting would give their sons purpose and enjoyment.
Susan, who works for Richland Newhope as a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, knows her son needs to be busy with different activities. She wants her son to have options for outdoor activities.
“Any physical movement for our bodies is good, it provides happiness,” she said. “So we’d like a place for our sons to go rural, a choice for that.”
Angela said her son, Mitchell, if not given options, would waste away.
“I watch him just rock when there’s no purpose in his day. Like if I’m not there helping him make things happen I watch him rock and rock and just kind of fade. If he’s not engaged and there’s no purpose in his day he’s going to rock for the rest of his life,” Angela said, fighting tears.
Imbody from Richland Newhope said a challenge exists for baby boomers with children who currently live at home.
“There are a lot of people who live at home for a long, long time,” she said.
She described a local situation in which an elderly woman passed away.
“When she died, we found out that she had a daughter that had been living with her,” Imbody said.
The daughter had an intellectual disability.
Next steps
The idea that is Taking Root Farms has sprouted. But there are still components missing.
“We’re looking for land right now,” Angela said.
Ideally, the land would be zoned for business agriculture, have a relatively flat landscape, an accessible inroad and able to accommodate a barn, equipment outbuilding, a 10,000 square-foot facility and a farmers market.
As of 2015, Taking Root Farms is a registered nonprofit and has established a board of directors. Angela and Susan have received three years of counsel from Ashland University’s Director of Business College.
The organization is also part of the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce and it was chosen to in the First Osborne Meese Academy at Richland County Foundation.
“We work on it when we can, but the biggest need we have right now is land,” Angela said. “Until we get land, we aren’t really taken seriously. People are more apt to support something if they see something — if I can say this is where it is.”
Angela and Susan plan to spread awareness through a 5K race, Dash at Dusk from 5 to 9 p.m. at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, Oct. 1. They will also hold a community forum on Tuesday, July 12 at 7 p.m. in Lexington’s High School auditorium.
To donate to Taking Root Farms or to discuss possible land acquisition, visit their website for giving options. The organization can also be found on Facebook or by calling 419-688-0019.
