Strive looks to the future with new home, but needs some help

More than 10 percent of the population in Mesa County has some form of developmental disability. But while the knowledge of developmental disabilities grows, the home for services for many of these people on the Western Slope hasn't been able to keep up with the times.

"Strive helps people who have disabilities just like me and my friends and they need the same support as everyone else," said Lauren Heath, who has Down syndrome and works at Strive.

Their Grand Avenue home, that was originally built as Mesa Memorial Hospital in 1946, isn't sufficient to help the 1,400 kids and adults get the right treatment.

"It's a really dysfunctional building," said Doug Sorter, Vice President of Strive. "It has a lot of caveats that prevent us from participating in the world as it is today."

That's about to change with a new home being renovated on Wellington Avenue, near St. Mary's Hospital. They say once they are done renovating it will provide all the modern necessities they need to help the community.

"We have really significant issues with our diagnostic clinic for our children and this is going to be greatly improved," Sorter said. "And we are going to be able to enhance our services and take on more people."

Strive is raising money for the $7.2 million project through their 'Framing the Future' campaign. They are hoping to raise $3.8 million from grants and the community.

"We got a lot of significant people behind it," Sorter said.

"They already work with people who have disabilities so they understand us," said Amanda Lowdermilk, who has Cerebral Palsy and works at Strive.

Strive hopes to be in their new home sometime next year. You can learn more and contribute to the campaign by

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Strive has a buyer for their current location. The developer building apartments on the old R-5 campus will also build apartments in that space.