The mission of Independence Landing is to build, own, and operate an affordable and safe residential community for adults with varying intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, allowing residents to successfully lead independent and fulfilled lives.
People with all abilities have access to the services and support they need, and the opportunities to achieve their full potential.
Every contribution helps us provide independence to those who need it most. Let’s continue to create a world where everyone has the chance to live, grow, and succeed.
Stay up to date with community news,opportunities to get involved, and #ResidentLife fun!
Our annual B3 Bash: Bubbles, Bites, & Brews will be here before you know it!
🫧 The B3 Bash is an annual event that benefits Independence Landing, allowing us to continue providing a vibrant community for adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.
💐 Our next B3 Bash will be held Thursday, March 26th, 2026 right here at Independence Landing! To register for tickets and sponsorships, visit ➡ bit.ly/b3bash2026
We can`t wait to see you there!
🎅SANTA DAY 2025🎅
We`re still thrilled over this year`s Santa Day! ❄️ The incredible team from the Hang Tough Foundation (@hangtoughorg) brought the North Pole to Independence Landing, serving nearly 300 children ages 0-21 years old with a medical or special needs diagnosis.
Each family is welcomed by cheerful volunteers to guide them through a winter wonderland. At Santa Day, each child gets to choose a book to encourage literacy, there are treats and snacks, and of course Santa Claus. Santa knows each child`s name, their special interests, and facts only Santa Claus might "know." Parents provide these talking points and a gift on their child`s Christmas wish list. Just look at those excited faces! 🥰
Where visiting Santa Claus at the mall can be loud, chaotic, busy, and germy, Hang Tough’s Santa Day curates an experience to fit the unique needs of Hang Tough participants. No child should miss a classic childhood experience, like visiting Santa, because of no immune system or too many lights and noises at the mall.
We`re amazed at this year`s turnout, and would like to thank the Hang Tough Heroes, Sidekicks, and Families, our corporate sponsors, and everyone else who made this event such a success. 🎄
✨ SANTA DAY 2025 ✨
We are honored to have partnered with the Hang Tough Foundation (@hangtoughorg) to bring this year`s Santa Day to life right here at Independence Landing.
The Hang Tough Foundation serves families whose children, ages 0-21 years old, have a medical or special needs diagnosis. Diagnoses represented include autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, many forms of cancer, and some so unique that the child is one-in-a-million.
Santa Day precedes the establishment of Hang Tough Foundation as a nonprofit. The very first Santa Day was in 2014 and created for a family whose 2 year old son was undergoing cancer treatment. In 2013, with no immune system, Grayson was unable to participate in the classic childhood experience with his older sister. A local boutique invited the family to meet Santa Claus in their store before anyone else arrived. Six months later, Hang Tough Foundation was established!
Where visiting Santa Claus at the mall can be loud, chaotic, busy, and germy, Hang Tough’s Santa Day curates an experience to fit the unique needs of Hang Tough participants. No child should miss a classic childhood experience, like visiting Santa, because of no immune system or too many lights and noises at the mall.
❤️💚 Santa Day 2014 served 13 children. In 2025, we saw 285 children! ❤️💚
We`re so grateful for the mission of the Hang Tough Foundation, and marvel at the incredible growth Santa Day has experienced over the last 11 years. Thank you to the Hang Tough Heroes, Sidekicks, and Families, as well as our corporate sponsors, and everyone else who made this event such a success.
Oh, deer! 🦌❄️ Our residents have been making the season bright with some holiday arts and crafts. 🌟 They started this month by making reindeer glasses and one of a kind ornaments, leaving them with the perfect gift or keepsake to spread holiday cheer. 🎁
We are back with another installment of #MeetTheTeamMonday to kickstart your week, and would like to introduce, Independence Landing Board Member, David Ledbetter! 📰✨
Dr. David Ledbetter is a human genetics/genomics researcher who is also clinically trained and board-certified by the American Board of Medical Genetics in clinical cytogenetics. For over a decade, David served as Executive Vice President & the Founding Chief Scientific Officer at Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, where he helped build and lead one of the largest Precision Medicine/Genomics programs in the world. He is a graduate of Tulane University and earned his Ph.D. at the University of Texas-Austin. He is an internationally recognized expert in Genomics and Precision Medicine, having discovered the genetic causes of Prader-Willi syndrome and Miller-Dieker syndrome. He currently works as a professor at the FSU College of Medicine (@fsucom) where he continues his NIH-funded research on the genetic basis of autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders.
We honor David and his research, advancing our understanding of the genetic foundations of neurodevelopmental disorders, while also uncovering the genetic underpinnings of autism, intellectual disability, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and schizophrenia, and are thrilled to have him as an Independence Landing Board Member. 💚
💚Thank You for Your Support on Giving Tuesday! 💚
Because of your generosity, we raised $2,000! Together, we are changing lives and creating a ripple effect of awareness in our region. There simply isn’t anything we cannot do with you by our side. ❤️
Your support directly strengthens the programs that empower adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to live, work, and thrive in our community, opening doors to meaningful careers in the hospitality industry and beyond:
🏡 Permanent Supportive Affordable Housing
You help sustain our trailblazing housing program, providing 58 adults with IDD a safe, stable, and truly independent place to call home.
👩🍳 Culinary Workforce Development Program
Your donations fuel our nationally accredited training program, where participants achieve a 100% ServSafe Food Handlers Certificate pass rate and a 37.5% post-graduation employment rate—opening doors to meaningful careers in the culinary industry.
🤝 Community-Based Engagement Program
Your support ensures our participants can experience, enjoy, and contribute to our local community through inclusive events, activities, and partnerships that foster belonging.
🌱 Life Skills Training Workshops
You make it possible for us to offer hands-on workshops that build confidence, independence, and essential life skills that last a lifetime.
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Because of YOU, we can continue providing the gift of peace of mind to families in our region. The gift of knowing their loved ones will be healthy, happy, and safe. Today. Tomorrow. And long after they’re gone. 💚
Thank you for believing in our mission—and in the incredible individuals we serve.
It’s our last call for #GivingTuesday, and we’re so close to reaching our goal. If you’ve been meaning to give—or even if you can’t donate but can share this post—we would be so grateful. Every single action tonight makes a difference.
At Independence Landing, safe, stable, and affordable housing isn’t just a roof over someone’s head. It’s dignity. It’s community. It’s the chance for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live with independence, purpose, and pride.
The need has never been greater. Rising housing costs and long waitlists mean many of our residents—and so many others like them—have nowhere else to go. Your support tonight helps ensure that Independence Landing remains a place where they can truly thrive.
Please consider making a Giving Tuesday gift before midnight, and share this post to help us spread the word. Together, we can meet our goal and keep this community strong.
💚 Give. Share. Support Independence.
#GivingTuesday is here 🫶
Giving Tuesday— a day of global generosity — is here, and has the ability to transform the lives of our residents at Independence Landing. As a safe, affordable housing community for adults with varying intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, our goal is to foster a place for residents to successfully lead independent and fulfilled lives.
But we can`t do it alone.
We hope you will join us today, December 2nd, in a day for our community to come together in support of those who need it most. Your impact, no matter how big or small, helps ensure that everyone, regardless of ability, has a safe and welcoming home where they can build a future on their own terms.
Together, we can give the gift of possibility.
Donate now ➡ bit.ly/ilgivingtuesday to help our residents live independently, build community, and pursue their dreams. Let’s continue to create a world where everyone has the chance to live, grow, and succeed. 💚
