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Our Story

How Woodside Prairie came to be

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In 2007, the Goldman famly moved with their then 22-year-old son, Michael, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Like many young adults, Michael had aged out of the school system.  Even though Michael has little functional speech and dealt with the sensory and behavioral challenges of autism, he graduated from high school and completed course work at his local community college outside Philadelphia.  He loved to bike and hike and travel with his family.  What was available to him in Milwaukee?  According to the then-executive director of the Autism Society of Southeast Wisconsin, there really wasn’t anything available to support Michael in the full life to which he was accustomed.

 

The Goldmans knew of an intentional community for adults with autism in Ohio – Bittersweet Farms.  This community was the basis for what the Goldmans set out to create in Southeastern Wisconsin.  The Autism Society gathered a group of families with similar hopes for their adult children with classic autism – typically without functional speech and challenged with behavioral and sensory issues.  Clearly a need existed.  

 

The Goldmans and the families wanted a location that had welcoming neighbors and nearby commercial establishments.  They also wanted plenty of land - to allow for agriculture to provide meaningful work for the residents and to allow for hiking trails. The Village of Grafton Zoning Board supported the creation of this community.  In February, 2019, the Goldmans signed a letter of intent to buy 6.5 acres in Grafton – directly across from Meijers.  The residents could easily walk to do their shopping.  They could easily bike around Grafton and Cedarburg.  The site was perfect.

 

After locating a developer, the Goldmans worked with the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority to apply for an Innovative Housing Tax Credit.  They spoke with WHEDA about a vision of having a community with four houses, with six residents in each house.  The residents were described as adults with classic autism, with challenges in speech, behaviors and sensory issues that precluded their living outside of parental homes without supports.   The community would also include townhouses for low-income residents who would interact naturally with their autistic neighbors.  Finally, the community would include an activity building for shared activities with residents and others.  The WHEDA staff understood the vision and, in 2021, awarded the project Innovative Housing Tax Credits

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