Fundraising continues for expansion of deaf and blind community

Original article from The Paper

By BILL POTEAT

[email protected]

Mar 22, 2025

Fundraising efforts are continuing to support a major expansion of Alder Springs, an independent-living apartment community for the deaf and blind in Morganton.

“Fundraising has grown more difficult in the months since Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina,” said Sam Avery, a member of the Alder Springs board of directors.

“Other fund drives are also going on in our county right now,” Avery continued. “But the need is there to expand the Alder Springs community, and we remain committed to bringing this project to fruition.”

Of the need for the expansion, Avery said, “Our 21 apartments in the existing building are always full. When an apartment becomes available, a deaf or blind person is always ready to move in.”

The expansion includes the construction of both a new apartment building and an 8,000-square-foot activity center that Avery says will serve as a resource for the entire western North Carolina deaf and blind community.

APARTMENT BUILDING

The new apartment building will include:

• 25,000 square feet, with 26 apartments on three floors with balconies.
• Eleven one-bedroom apartments of about 700 square feet
• Six two-bedroom units of around 1,000 square feet
• Nine studio apartments of just over 500 square feet
• Multiple floor plans, with more efficient layouts than in the original building
• Efficient kitchens with more storage space that are more navigable by wheelchair or cart
• Guest-accessible bathrooms in both the one- and two-bedroom units
• An additional service elevator
• And a central storage room, available to every apartment at no charge

ACTIVITY CENTER

The activity center will be centrally located, free standing, and is expected to include:

• A large multi-purpose room, capable of holding 130 people at table seating or 172 in theater seating. This room can also be divided into small spaces.
• A catering kitchen
• Flexible use classroom
• A small lending library
• An activity room for small group activities
• A patio and courtyard
• And a property manager’s office

“This activity center is something that is badly needed,” Avery said. “As anyone familiar with the deaf and deafblind community will testify, these folks love to socialize and gather with people who share a common sign language. This will give them appropriate and attractive spaces to comfortably do just that.”

Avery explained that “appropriate” means long sight lines and proper lighting and space that is flexible to the size of the gathering.

The activity center has the potential to be a revenue producer for Alder Springs through the rental of office space and perhaps the establishment of a primary care clinic to serve not only Alder Springs residents but also deaf and blind patients from around the region.

The Alder Springs campus is on College Street near downtown Morganton on the site of the old Morganton High School.

FUNDS NEEDED

The total cost of the project is expected to be roughly $8.3 million, with the new apartment building budgeted at $4.25 million, the activity center at $1.8 million, and site work — including construction of roads, curbing, and building of a retention pond — at $900,000.

“Our plan all along has been to raise money from individual donors, organizations, and businesses,” Avery explained, “as well as pursuing grant funding from a variety of sources.”

“Two million dollars has been raised to date in gifts and multi-year pledges, thanks to this generous community of individuals, families, and businesses, as well as the regional deaf population,” Avery said.

“We are grateful for this support and further inspired by how it has drawn the hearing and deaf into a deeper understanding of each other,” Avery continued.

More support is needed, Avery noted, before work on the site can begin.

“Before we can begin construction this summer, we need to raise an additional $1 million in donations and grants and also seek non-cash gifts while we are lining up the planned loans for the project,” Avery said.

“All gifts and pledges are welcomed,” Avery said. “Visit our website at aldersprings.org to contribute. There are a variety of ways to make a donation or pledge online or by the more traditional use of a pledge/gift card.

“Please consider how you or your business can help,” he concluded. “I am always happy to take your call or email at 828-432-6478 or [email protected].”