CANTON, CT — A new $2.5 million state investment will help transform the way Connecticut supports adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday, announcing bond funding for a Workforce Development and Independent Living Resource Center on Favarh’s Canton campus.
Favarh — The Arc of the Farmington Valley — has provided services for 66 years and is now Canton’s largest private employer, with more than 330 staff supporting 300 clients across 34 towns. The new two-story center will feature workforce readiness programs, job placement services, independent living training, and even a model apartment and culinary kitchen.
“Where do you work? Where do you live?” asked Favarh Executive Director Stephen Morris. “Adults with IDD (intellectual and developmental disabilities) deserve meaningful answers to both.”
The center will serve as both a training hub and a lifeline: preparing people for meaningful jobs, helping them transition into supportive housing, and giving families hope that independence is possible, Morris said.
Supporters framed the project as a matter of dignity and economics. Morris pointed to the Project SEARCH program, which began at UConn Health in 2015 and now operates at 16 sites statewide, with a 98% job placement rate at its original site. Employers such as BeanZ & Company Café in Avon and Avon Prime Meats were credited for showing how inclusive hiring strengthens workplaces.
Families said the promise of independence is already reshaping lives. Kim Morrison, co-founder of BeanZ & Co. and mother of a Favarh client, described how her daughter Meghan — once assumed too medically complex to live without constant oversight — moved into supportive housing this year and continues to thrive at her job.
“Every day she wakes up in her own space, tends to her morning routine, and goes to work with a sense of purpose that fills our family with pride,” Morrison said. “Employment and housing are not luxuries, they are lifelines.”
In recent years Connecticut has become home to more supportive housing, with smart apartments costing about one-third of traditional group home placements. Bear Woods Apartments, which opened in Canton in 2021, was the state’s first such project. Ten others are now operating, 10 more are under construction, and by 2026, more than 300 adults with disabilities are expected to live in 249 units statewide.
Deputy Commissioner Lisa Velardo of the Department of Developmental Services said the new center would expand that progres.
“For individuals with intellectual disability, work means more than a paycheck. It means being part of a team and being valued for what you bring to the table,” she said.
The funding was advanced by Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw D-Avon and Sen. Paul Honig D-Harwinton. Kavros Degraw called the project the largest bonding request of her career and said she was inspired by legislation that was championed by Rep. Tammy Exum in 2021, HB 6121, which was an act establishing a workforce development pipeline for persons with disabilities. She also addressed the need for higher salaries for caregivers.
Lamont tied the center to broader state investments, noting that Connecticut has committed $170 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds to home and community-based services, from through DECD programs like Urban Act, Brownfield remediation redevelopment and community investment fund 2030 and described the project as “the best of Connecticut values.”
Lamont called individuals with IDD “an untapped workforce” and urged more businesses to “step up.”
“This is about more than a building. It’s about giving people the opportunity to live and work with dignity — and that benefits the entire economy,” he said.
Construction bids for the center are expected later this fall, with completion anticipated in 12 to 18 months at Favarh’s 225 Commerce Drive property.