LAWRENCE, Ind. — Hundreds of adults with developmental disabilities are gaining more independence through the Village of Merici.
If the name sounds familiar, it’s because the organization has the heart of Cincinnati Bengal Ted Karras.
“He fell in love with the organization pretty quickly, has bonded with so many of the residents here,” said Matt Renie with the Village of Merici.
Renie and Karras met in eighth grade, quickly becoming best friends. So when demand for Karras’s popular Cincy Hat increased, the Super Bowl champ saw an opportunity to help the nonprofit he loves. All of the proceeds go directly to them.
“Village of Merici, first of all, it provides services to adults with developmental disabilities,” Renie said. “We also have housing opportunities, so they provide apartments and condos.”
Mary McClamroch lives at the first housing complex the Village of Merici built, and she loves that her friends live right down the hall.
“You don’t have to call them. You can just go next door and knock on the door and say ‘Hey, do you want to go watch a football game? Do you want to order pizza, watch football, and stay up til midnight,’” she said.
McClamroch said she especially loves when Karras comes to visit.
“They close everything and we’re like ‘Hey, party in the basement!’ So we hang out with him,” she said.
Jason Chang lives at home with his parents but comes to the Village of Merici four times a week to experience different learning opportunities. He goes to music therapy and cooking class on Thursdays.
He said he's become more social and gained more confidence since first arriving one year ago.
“The Village of Merici serves hundreds of people, but it transforms their entire lives,” Renie said.
Chang is one of several people who help pack Cincy Hats' merchandise before they are shipped. He said his favorite part is “putting boxes together.”
Renie oversees the hat operation and loves the help he gets from the residents.
“There’s an overwhelming sense of pride that this is their project, you know, the community supporting them and they feel a whole sense of purpose so they’re a huge part of the project. They pack a lot of the hats, they make the boxes and they come clean the hat room,” he said.
Renie said they’ve sold 27,000 hats generating $1.3 million in revenue — half of which has gone back to the Village of Merici.
He said the nonprofit helps hundreds of adults and has 300 people on its wait list. The money the hats generate is helping them expand. They’re building 37 condos for adults with disabilities to own. They have a new development in Carmel with 40 apartment units and support services.
“The Village of Merici provides a huge piece of mind and a huge level of independence,” Renie said. “There’s 300 people on the waiting list for services and residential opportunities here.”
Renie said organizations like this are vital, and fill a critical gap in care for adults with disabilities.
“A lot of the folks that get services and residential opportunities their families feel a huge sense of relief,” he said. “They no longer have to stay up at night thinking ‘what’s going to happen to my 57-year-old daughter who has developmental disabilities? When I die where do they go?’”
Karras’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination has only helped them spread their mission to a national audience.
“In a weird way, it’s a lot of times families kind of secret that they don’t want to deal with, they don’t want to talk about it, and it’s not really coming up in normal conversation, and I think it’s creating really more of a dialogue,” he said.
Renie said he is hopeful all of the new support they’ve received because of increased exposure will continue, so they can provide more opportunities for adults with disabilities.
