At age 38, Jennifer Thomas is leading a life more full than many.
When she’s not working at an East Bay grocery store, she’s tending a garden, honing her music skills and learning recipes to cook. An athlete who’s medaled in track and field and javelin throwing, she helped her bocce team snatch bronze at the Special Olympics Northern California Summer Games in 2024.
And when she’s not doing all that, she’s kicking back with her friends at Irby Ranch, an affordable-housing community in Pleasanton for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD).
“I have lived at Irby Ranch for five years now — I was one of the first residents,” Thomas says. “I actually lead some of the activities there, like a jam session where I bring my own guitar. That’s kind of cool.”
Irby Ranch is a 30-unit complex loosely designed on the model for senior homes, providing independent living to Tri-Valley residents with conditions like autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and epilepsy. It’s run by the Pleasanton nonprofit Sunflower Hill, whose mission is to provide affordable apartments and social programs to folks with I/DD.
These things are in great need. Just look at Sunflower Hill’s plans for the near future: The organization hopes to soon shepherd through two other similarly designed residential communities — one in Dublin and another in Lafayette, the latter of which recently received a $19.5 million award to cover roughly half of its building costs.
“Our mission is to develop as many communities as we can in that mode of operations,” says Susan Houghton, president of the board of directors at the nonprofit.
Chances are, unless you have a child or know somebody with special needs, you don’t think about the population that much, says Houghton, whose adult son was diagnosed with autism at age 2.
“There are 26,000 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Greater East Bay, meaning all of Alameda County and Contra Costa County. Of those, 80% live with their parents or family members and only 20% are employed,” says Houghton, citing statistics from the Regional Center of the East Bay.
She and other parents formed Sunflower Hill in 2012 to address a pressing question: How could they provide for their kids in the long term, when they might not be around or able to any longer?
People with I/DD often can’t work and receive only a small amount in government benefits. It’s often not enough to cover basic rent in one of the most expensive real-estate markets in the country. Then, when you throw a disability into the mix that makes it difficult to handle everyday tasks — doing laundry, say, or grocery shopping — it can be extremely difficult to live independently.
“My son Robby is pretty innocent. He thinks Disney princesses are real,” Houghton says. “He can make his own waffles in the morning and can make a sandwich for lunch. But if somebody knocked on his door and said, ‘Give me all your money,’ he would hand them his wallet. And he would want to make sure they were happy afterward, because he’s so innocent.”
At Irby Ranch, the architecture is tailored to provide extra support. There are nooks in each hall, similar to residential-advisor rooms in dorms, where caretakers can stay while providing supportive services like cooking assistance and sleep monitoring (for those prone to seizures). There is a fitness room, a maker space and a large community room – places where residents can engage in all kinds of activities from exercise lessons and art classes to pet therapy with Humane Society volunteers.
Sunflower Hill is all about the social calendar. On any given day, the activity schedule is loaded, and any adult with I/DD in the Bay Area (not just residents) is welcome to attend. The options are meant not just for personal enrichment or learning life skills, but also for a more fundamental purpose: human connection.
“It’s super-important for people to have activities throughout their day that are exciting and that they also may be able to learn something from,” says Olivia Christensen, the organization’s program manager. “It can be hard to put yourself out there and meet new people. But when there are programming and social opportunities available, it allows for social interactions to happen more easily.”
Aside from decorating her room for the holidays, Jennifer Thomas leads a walking club and works at an Irby Ranch farmer’s market. “It’s a lot of fun,” she says. “And it’s helped me become more responsible.”
A crown jewel of Sunflower Hill is a one-acre organic garden that its residents manage in Livermore. They harvest more than 5,000 pounds of produce each year, which goes to local nonprofits – a women’s shelter, a food bank that provides meals for seniors, an organization that serves cancer patients. Some amateur gardeners have learned enough about seeding and mulching that they’ve gone on to get jobs at a local plant nursery.
Sunflower Hill accomplishes all these things despite receiving no regular funding from the state or federal government – just awards, donations and the like. This year, the organization hopes to use its Share the Spirit funds to continue work on its garden; hiring gardeners and providing supplies aren’t free, after all. Houghton says that the garden’s donated produce helps 1,500 families and individuals who deal with food insecurity each year.
And of course, Sunflower Hill has its ambitious plans for its upcoming residential communities, because that need isn’t going away anytime soon.
“We’re seeing more and more folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities who want to participate in our programs, and want to have an apartment at one of our communities,” Houghton says. “There are 169 people on the waiting list for Irby Ranch, for 30 slots. Chances are, those folks unfortunately will be waiting a very long time.”
ABOUT SHARE THE SPIRITShare the Spirit is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operated by the East Bay Times/Bay Area News Group. Since 1989, Share the Spirit has been producing series of stories during the holiday season that highlight the wishes of those in need and invite readers to help fulfill them.
HOW TO HELPDonations to Sunflower Hill will support the nonprofit’s programs at its Hagemann Ranch garden in Livermore, offering 10 months of programming for one of the 10 classes that meet regularly at the garden. The program provides fresh produce to 1500 families and individuals facing food insecurity and vocational horticulture opportunities to 200 people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities each year. Goal: $10,000
HOW TO GIVEDonate at sharethespiriteastbay.org/donate or by mail using this form. Donations are tax deductible.
ONLINE EXTRARead other Share the Spirit stories, view photos and video at sharethespiriteastbay.org.