Treehouse, Independent Landing get us closer to sweet homes for all | Blake Dowling
In the '80s I tore home each afternoon after school to catch Dial MTV. It was a top 10 countdown show of the hottest music videos in the land and my favorite was the “Home Sweet Home” video by Motley Crue. It ruled that chart in 1986 and in the video the band can be seen riding into the sunset on their tour bus with the phrase “Rockin & Rollin” on the front of the bus.
Fast forward to the early 2000’s I am standing outside a music venue in Austin, Texas called Antoines. That actual bus pulls up as we had leased it for a band (Austin music royalty, Dexter Freebish) that I worked for. I ran on the bus and checked the roll sign and sure enough Rockin and Rollin was still a choice to put on the front of the bus. Plus, that video about “Home” always put the video and the bus in a special place in my memories.
Longing for home is the message in that tune and what happens when you don’t have your own home?
In 1986, in Tallahassee, June Strauss saw a problem with children in our community not having a home and along with some of her peers they created the Treehouse children’s shelter.
For almost 20 years I have been attending their annual event Fast Cars and Mason Jars. The success of that event has kept Treehouse funded so that the organization can keep kids in a homelike environment when their home life is disrupted and they have no where else to go.
I once served on the Treehouse board and monitored the email of the organization. I received an email from a young lady one day that just graduated from Valdosta State the day before and she wanted to reach out to someone at Treehouse.
I responded and she told me she had a very tough situation when she was a kid and Treehouse gave her a home when she needed it. She continued that she would not be here today as a college graduate without it. That is how important Treehouse is, it changes lives. Thank you, Treehouse leaders, Louis Poskey (president elect), whose great Aunt is June Strauss (amazing legacy), and Ashley Chaney, current Board President for your leadership.
Earlier this year I saw another remarkable group in action. The organization was Independence Landing, and they are a brand-new residential community for adults with cognitive and intellectual disabilities. The community features private residences as well as common areas that include a game room, theater and even a coffee shop.
Like Treehouse, its origin story consisted of community members seeing a need and getting it done. When I asked Independence Landing, Executive Director, Kim Galban-Countryman, how they got their start she had a quick response. Representative Allison Tant traveled across the state of Florida, looking for residential community for her son, Jeremy, and decided “hey, we need one of these in Tallahassee!”
In only a couple of years they planned it, raised funds, broke ground, and opened. A truly amazing accomplishment.
At the open house for Independence Landing, one resident who is aged 38 said that this is his first home and the first time in his life he is making decisions by himself. The power in those words just about knocked me over.
I met another resident Anne and she just glowed as she talked about her new home. She also asked if I was the mayor, and I told her I was not, but would she like to meet him?
She was thrilled and when I asked Mayor Dailey across the parking lot if he could meet her, he ran over. We took pics, Anne was ear to ear grinning. Cool moment and shout out to our Mayor (also pictured in this column), seeing him in action is always a pleasure.
As MK Soni once said “Home sweet home. This is the place to find happiness. If one doesn’t find it here, one doesn’t find it anywhere.” To not have one’s own home is a travesty, it is the denial of that base foundation that we all need to grow and live.
To the organizations and the people in our region who make it part of their life’s work to ensure that no one goes without a home we salute you.
As we close, we look to another artist, Mr. Bob Dylan, who poses the question of life without a home. “How does it feel to be without a home. Like a complete unknown. Like a rolling stone?”
Thank you, Treehouse, Habitat for Humanity, Family Promise of the Big Bend and Independence Landing, for putting in the work to ensure everyone has a Home Sweet Home of their own.
Blake Dowling is CEO of Aegis Business Technologies and can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Treehouse, Independence Landing get us closer to homes for all
