Jonathan’s Landing to be Home for 500 Residents; Create 5,000 Career Pathways in Orlando
ORLANDO, Fla. (Dec. 13, 2023) – It all started with a dream and the desire to have a real-life solution to what tech entrepreneur Jason Eichenholz, PhD, was experiencing. As the father of a son with autism, he often asked himself, “What will happen to my son Jonathan when I’m gone?” The answer was nothing short of applying his entrepreneurial energy toward creating the world’s most comprehensive, intentional community for adults with autism – Jonathan’s Landing.
The community, to be built in Orlando, is the central focus of Jonathan’s Landing Foundation Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to answer the call for adults with autism. The community will focus on equal pillars of “live” and “work” from day one through a spectrum of housing and services for 500 residents and creating access to 5,000 career pathways. Most importantly, Jonathan’s Landing will be a lifelong home that provides a sense of dignity, opportunity and belonging for this historically underserved community.
As 5.4 million U.S. adults with autism have experienced, turning 21 means losing access to critical care and support services during an already difficult transition into adulthood, becoming known to parents and caregivers as the “services cliff.” The demand for an encompassing solution to this prevailing epidemic of kids aging out of essential care services drives Jonathan’s Landing’s mission and vision – to provide the support, resources and connectivity adults with autism and their families need while also being an active participant in the local community.
“My dream is that each individual adult who comes to Jonathan’s Landing, whether they’re a part of our community for six months, six years, or the rest of their lives, develops the life skills, training and coaching to be able to live as independently as possible,” said Eichenholz. Leveraging his proven track record of technology development, entrepreneurship and strategic partnerships, Eichenholz spent years assembling a strong team of individuals and partners, including universities, higher education professors and researchers, CEOs, parents, and national thought leaders to help bring the concept of Jonathan’s Landing to life.
Live & Work
Whether residents live at Jonathan’s Landing for a few months or their entire adult life, they will experience a model of holistic care that enables them to progress to their maximum level of independence. They will have access to career pathways and life skills training necessary to provide a path to meaningful work, participate in enriching social engagement with their peers and friends, and be surrounded by an environment of community support and inclusion.
To operationalize this vision, Jonathan’s Landing is building upon existing frameworks for residential care, occupational support, and vocational training and coaching delivered locally, regionally and across the U.S. to support individuals with autism. Service providers will convene locally to offer best-in-class resources.
Social Enterprise
Jonathan’s Landing social entrepreneurship model is built “leveraging the magic of the region,” as Eichenholz explains, capitalizing on Central Florida’s expansive and highly successful technology, food service and culinary arts, and hospitality sectors to support the community’s mission.
Through its model, Jonathan’s Landing will create value three times over. “First, we will create a life of dignity and opportunity for adults with autism. Second, we will provide access for adults with autism to earn income across diverse employment pathways, which can help alleviate expenses for their families and caretakers. And third, Jonathan’s Landing can reinvest the profits from these social enterprises to provide the highest level of support at the lowest cost to residents and their families,” said Eichenholz.
Open-Source Model
To ensure that Jonathan’s Landing has the most significant impact on as wide a geographic area as possible, all learnings, operations and financial models from Jonathan’s Landing will be shared openly with anyone who asks. This open-source model is critical to the foundational goal of supporting as many people with autism as possible.
The reality is almost all the individual puzzle pieces to architect and build Jonathan’s Landing exist today. It is Jonathan’s Landing’s goal to evaluate and embrace existing silos of excellence, then align and combine these best practices to create new integrative models to share with the world.
Partnerships
At the core of Jonathan’s Landing’s operational model are partnerships and strategic alliances, which allow us to deliver the maximum level of affordable care and support sustainably. Jonathan’s Landing continues to develop and expand these relationships with progressive technology, hospitality and food service companies, leading academic institutions, renowned architecture design firms, and existing autism service providers and organizations.
What’s Next
As part of its vision to build the world’s most comprehensive, intentional community for adults with autism, Jonathan’s Landing is actively developing its first Autism Workforce Innovation program and its inaugural social enterprise in the B2B cell phone and tablet repair industry. Jonathan’s Landing is also continuing to support organizations across Orlando that serve persons with a range of physical and hidden disabilities and special needs through expanding its social good initiative, Events With Jonathan.
To meet the community’s massive resource shortages and needs, the first phase of this project will require $65-75 million in fundraising to develop live and work as equal pillars at scale and at the same time. Funds will be allocated for the development, design, piloting, and building of world-class housing, service and support programs, workforce development initiatives, and social enterprises that will provide long-term sustainability and, in the long run, help ensure Jonathan’s Landing can meet its goal of the highest level of support at the lowest cost to residents and their families.
To stay up-to-date and learn more about Jonathan’s Landing, visit www.jonathanslanding.org or email info@jonathanslanding.org. Additional assets can be found at .
About Jonathan’s Landing Foundation
Jonathan’s Landing is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a vision to build the world’s most comprehensive residential community for adults with autism across the spectrum of needs. Based in Orlando, Florida, the organization focuses on an ambitious live and work commitment – to build housing for 500 adults with autism and create 5,000 jobs and meaningful work opportunities.
Contact:
Elisa White
Jonathan’s Landing/Curley & Pynn
770.776.7071 | ewhite@thestrategicfirm.com
