Riverflow: Housing for Individuals with High Support Needs in Vermont
At the Theresa Foundation, we believe in the power of creativity and community to transform lives. Our mission has always been to support organizations that provide opportunities for children with special needs to thrive through the arts and recreation.
In May 2025, the Theresa Foundation awarded a grant to Riverflow Community in honor of our NAELA Theresa Award recipient, James A. Caffry.
Riverflow Community, located in Vermont, offers a unique life sharing housing model for individuals with high support needs—one that emphasizes inclusion, dignity, and the power of meaningful relationships.
Within life sharing, the dynamic between those who need care and those who give care is transformed. Instead of hierarchy, there is equality, shared responsibility and power, and authentic relationships. Caregivers and Friends (residents) alike participate in mutual care of the household, the land, meals, and one another. This shared life fosters not only support and belonging, but also resilience, growth, and enduring connection—something that traditional models rarely achieve.
Importantly, joining Riverflow is never a placement—it is a choice. Each Friend or Coworker comes first for a trial stay, to feel what it means to live and work there. If, at the end of that time, it feels like a good fit socially and emotionally—if the community feels it can meet the needs of the individual, and the individual feels they can meet the needs of the community—then they move forward together. In this way, every home is built not just on roles and responsibilities, but on mutual desire and commitment to shared life.
The long-term vision for Riverflow is to blossom into a small village, alive with care, rhythm, and connection. Riverflow is in the process of applying to the state of Vermont for permits for four additional homes, a community center, an office, and a therapeutic barn where goats, sheep, and hopefully a cow or two will graze alongside us.
Riverflow has accomplished its first phase: they envisioned, planned, established a dedicated board of directors, opened its doors, and welcomed its first four Friends into a beautiful home. To truly fulfill the mission of a life sharing community, however, they need to build the four additional homes, a community center for inclusive cultural events, and a therapeutic farm bustling with animal life and food production.
Community members, families, and partners can support Riverflow by helping them build this next phase—whether through donations, advocacy, or simply sharing their story with others who believe in inclusive, life-centered care.
