Below are events that LTO Ventures attends, produces, supports, or relate to our mission.

  

LTO Ventures 1st Community in Maryland in Planning and Fundraising Stages

"Our board often asks me 'what would you do if someone donated 20 acres to us?' and I always tell them it would be a nice problem to have.  Well, just before Memorial Day I had one of those "be careful what you wish for" moments.  I took a call from a retired lawyer who liked our community model and wanted to convey to us 20 acres of land in Maryland with $6 million in homes and commercial structures already on it, including a highly-regarded restaurant. I met with him and his team in June and walked the property. We agreed to move forward with the opportunity and we're currently planning the community in partnership with two exceptional Maryland-based groups and beginning a campaign to raise $5.5 million to secure and operate it.  We will publish more on our website and this newsletter in coming months.

Autism Entrepreneurs Center May Soon Have a Commercial Space to Call Home

It has been a Spring of "be careful what you wish for" moments.  When we launched our Autism Entrepreneurs Center in January, the only one in the US, we realized right away that we needed a permanent commercial space to house our entrepreneurs and business incubator.  We began a search in collaboration with the Achievement Vocational and Life Skills Academy, but before we could get started we were contacted by a very well-known and respected autism non-profit that had a vision to create a retail and vocational center to train and employ adults with autism.  We have been working very closely with them to develop an extraordinary plan and hope to open by the end of the year.  Watch our website and this newsletter for more details when we can disclose them. 

LTO Ventures Joins ASD Adults, Parents, Providers, Politicians to Fight CMS

Three times since 2009 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") in Washington, DC has tried to rewrite the regulations that define what constitutes a "home and community-based" residential setting, and twice they have failed because the disabled Americans have opposed CMS' narrow-minded and draconian efforts to tell them where they can and cannot live.  Unfortunately, indications are that CMS may ignore the voices of tens of thousands of the people they exist to serve and implement some or all of their proposed new regulations anyway.

We continue to fight for CHOICE.  A rapidly-growing coalition of adults with autism (and other disabilities), their parents, providers, and advocates have been joined recently by members of the U.S. House of Representatives to demand CMS reject its efforts to redefine "community" which would force thousands of residential settings to close and their residents out of their homes.  CMS' efforts are a clear violation of the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 1999 US Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C. that interpreted the ADA.

Contact me if you would like to know more and to join our fight.  We will continue to post updates on our Facebook page and in this newsletter.  Read the documents below for more information:

Please Add Your Voice to the National Housing and Residential Support Survey

Autism Speaks seeks to quantify and characterize the housing needs of teens and adults with autism in the US through the National Housing and Residential Supports Survey. The goal is to increase the support of both the public and private sectors to expand housing and residential supports for individuals with autism. PLEASE REPLY by August 9. The results will be used to support recommendations on a national strategic plan for housing policy and development. The survey is designed for individuals with autism ages 14 and older and their caregivers. The survey will take 10-15 minutes to complete. Information that you provide will be kept confidential.

Donate $20-45, Get a T-shirt, Poster, Book

We have a limited number of very cool commemorative posters, t-shirts and coffee table books from the April 26, 2013 "Artists for Autism" event held by the Autism Community Trust.  We will send you one or more with your donation to LTO Ventures of $20, $25, $45 or more.  Click here for more info and photos.

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