HOPE North Carolina has opened three supportive housing pilots for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, aiming to show alternatives to congregate living, North Carolina Health News reported Oct. 16, 2026.

The nonprofit, Housing Options for People with Exceptionalities, pairs affordable units with a community facilitator who helps residents with budgets, maintenance, jobs and relationships. Many residents also use Medicaid waiver supports such as the Innovations Waiver or a 1915(i) option for community services, the outlet reported.

What each pilot looks like

Grosvenor Gardens in downtown Raleigh is a 58-unit affordable complex where Alliance Health helped reserve 10 apartments for adults with I/DD. Residents moved in starting in 2024. North Street Neighborhood in Durham is an intentional mixed community where HOPE NC brought in its facilitator model in early 2024 after founders said people with disabilities were falling through the cracks.

The newest site is Weavers Grove in Chapel Hill, where HOPE NC bought four Habitat for Humanity two-bedroom homes and held a ribbon cutting Oct. 13. Eight residents are scheduled to move in over the coming weeks, with Orange County rental help intended to keep housing costs at or below 30% of income. Partners named in the report include Alliance Health, the N.C. Housing Finance Agency and the Town of Chapel Hill. HOPE NC said it plans to own 11 homes there and had nearly 50 applications as of the report.

Why this matters for providers and DSPs

For provider agencies and direct support professionals, scattered-site apartments and small Habitat homes still need staffed community supports—the Innovations and related waiver hours that make independent living work. N.C. DHHS mental health director Kelly Crosbie told the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities in August that the state sometimes moves people from institutions into settings that still function like institutions, and that better housing will take years of resources, North Carolina Health News reported. Families and case managers can ask regional LME/MCOs about vouchers and check Work Together NC’s housing directory, Wells said in the story.

HOPE NC said it is finishing a replication guide for groups elsewhere in the state, including rural models that will look different from Triangle partnerships.