SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021 | 27

FROM TOP: James Pentis, Stanley Wolf and Jacob Barron, IN members at an outing 
at Marvelous Marvin’s in Farmington Hills. • James Pentis and Jacob Barron behind 
Community Builder Tonja Shellman. They are walking home from their social outing at 
Buffalo Wild Wings. • IN member Spencer Cohn stands behind parents, Melanie and 
Harry Cohn. Melanie is the president of the board and has taken on the hard work of 
making the first Integrative Neighborhood in Oakland County a reality.

COURTESY OF TERRY MATLEN

F

or young adults who have special 
needs, setting up a secure future 
is of utmost priority for many 
parents. That includes safe and inspira-
tional housing where young adults can 
grow and become the best versions of 
themselves.
Terry Matlen of Birmingham, whose 
34-year-old daughter Mackenzie Matlen 
has special needs, struggled for years to 
find the right home for her child where 
she could be independent but also have 
support to succeed. “
About 10 years ago, 
when Mackenzie was finishing up a post-
high school program, I was wondering, 
‘OK, what’s her future now?’” Terry 
Matlen recalls.
Though Mackenzie was working on 
vocational goals, the issue about where 
she was going to live in the future contin-
ued to press the Matlen family. “I’m not 
going to be here forever, and her father 
is not going to be here forever,
” Terry 
explains. “I needed to set her up so that 
she is in a stable environment where I 
know she’ll be OK for the rest of her life.
”
Working with other parents facing the 
same concerns for their children who 
have special needs, who were steadily 
becoming young adults, a handful of 
moms developed a program known as 
an Integrative Neighborhood in 2014. 
Inspired by a similar neighborhood in 
Washtenaw County, where young adults 
who have disabilities could rent units 
and live together in small supportive 
“pods,
” the parents built a like-minded 
community in Farmington Hills.

“I was awestruck,
” Terry says of initial-
ly learning about the Washtenaw County 
neighborhood. “These young adults were 
so happy to be on their own. They were 
so proud of their apartments.
”
Now, local residents who have special 
needs can have the same housing oppor-
tunity. The first Oakland County pod 
is finally off the ground and thriving. 
Located at the Hunter’s Ridge complex, 
where Mackenzie Matlen will be moving 
to in a few weeks, five residents who have 
special needs share three apartments.
There, they socialize, encourage one 
another and learn how to be indepen-
dent while developing crucial interper-
sonal and life skills. They’re also close 
enough to their parents to provide an 
important safety net for both the young 
adults and their families.
Integrative Neighborhoods of Oakland 
County, led by parent Melanie Koblin-
Cohn, has even been able to hire its first 
Community Builder, a woman living in 
her own apartment paid for by the fami-
lies of residents to help the young adults 
socialize. “My daughter went from zero 
friends to having a whole community of 
friends,
” Terry explains of the neighbor-
hood, which has been especially import-
ant during COVID-19 when most young 
adults were more isolated than ever.

FUN ACTIVITIES
At the Integrative Neighborhood, resi-
dents enjoy pool parties, pizza nights and 
even taking trips to places like Marvin’s 
Marvelous Mechanical Museum. “Before, 

Integrative Neighborhood creates a housing 
community for adults with special needs.

Welcome to the 
Neighborhood!

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

continued on page 28

