STRUTHERS, Ohio – Three adults on the autism spectrum will move into the first new home provided through Dylan’s House.
The nonprofit organization led a ceremonial ribbon cutting Tuesday at the ranch house at 548 Judith Lane which includes three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a finished room in the basement.
“This is a huge need,” said Amy Shope, Dylan’s House cofounder. “One in 31 children are diagnosed with autism, and obviously, as they get older, they’re still living at home with parents with the needs of a toddler. So we need housing. It’s a huge crisis.”
Dylan’s House will be the landlord for the home, but Shope said the organization is leaving it to professionals with Mahoning County and private agencies to select the individuals who will live in the home as well as to staff it.
Kevin Shope, Dylan’s House president and Amy’s husband, thanked Joe Koch Construction which built the house; the Home Builders Association of Mahoning Valley and several other companies and organizations for donations and other contributions to the project.
“We are so excited to have this house here in Struthers, Ohio, and I want to give a big thank you to Mayor Cat and the city of Struthers for a couple of reasons,” he said, referring to Mayor Catherine Cercone Miller. “First of all, for donating the land that this house sits on, but more importantly for making the case to have this house in Struthers.”
Everything the mayor promised about the city and how welcoming it and the Judith Lane neighborhood are is true, Kevin Shope said.
“We’ve just been overwhelmed by the reception we’ve gotten so far, so we couldn’t be more grateful,” he added.
Miller said she and Amy Shope met to talk about the location of the first Dylan’s House and hit it off.
“My background was with adults with autism and children with autism, and Amy and I hit it off so well that when they came in for the meeting, we really wanted to sell them on the idea of Struthers and what we’re trying to do in this city,” the mayor said. “We’re trying to be proactive, and we’re trying to put our best foot forward and show what we have, so for them to choose it for their first house was really incredible.”
Miller encouraged the Shopes to select the Judith Lane lot because the neighborhood is a family.
“We talk a lot about family and how in the city of Struthers, we might fight like brothers and sisters every once in a while, but when somebody is in need or something needs done, our community pulls together like no other,” the mayor said. “Sometimes you won’t understand until unless you live here or unless you’re from here. It’s just a feeling that, especially this neighborhood on Judith Lane, encompasses.”
Amy Shope said the organization plans other similar homes in Mahoning County.
“We currently have a project in Boardman that should be getting underway we hope shortly,” she said. “And then our next plan, which was our original goal, was to buy and rehab homes throughout Youngstown, Struthers, Louisville, Campbell, really all the communities.”
The Shopes’ son, Dylan, 25, provides the inspiration for the organization. He moved out of the family home at 17 when he became aggressive.
“And the options were so limited,” Amy Shope said. “I mean, there was not any sort of option that, as a mother, I felt very comfortable with, so we’re working to change that.”
Pictured at top: Struthers Mayor Mayor Catherine Cercone Miller, with Amy and Joe Shope at Dylan’s House.