A place of hope and opportunity for adults with mild intellectual and developmental disabilities is taking shape on approximately 35 acres of leased Berry property just east of Stretch Road near the mountain campus.
Set to open in 2026, the Amber Grace Community will be a place of “abundant life and learning,” as described by Berry Board of Visitors member Amy Turner Cathy (05C). While located on the Berry campus, the community is a distinct entity operating as a separate nonprofit responsible for its own funding and support.
The project, rooted in her family’s Christian faith, represents the culmination of a long-held dream by Cathy’s parents, David and Debbie Turner, inspired by younger daughter Amber Grace, who lives with Down syndrome.
“Amber watched as we, her older siblings, graduated and went off to college,” explained Cathy, who now serves on the new community’s board of directors with husband Mark, among others. “When she graduated, she asked our parents, ‘What do I do now?’”
That question prompted the Turners to undertake “a countrywide journey to study best practices and to see what opportunities were available,” Cathy continued.
Amber spent seven years at one school before “she hit a ceiling and wasn’t growing anymore.” Next came Shepherd’s College in Wisconsin, where her emotional and relational maturity blossomed during four transformational years culminating with a culinary degree.
With encouragement from Cathy’s mother-in-law, Cindy, the Turners then set about the task of crafting lessons they’d learned into a place of opportunity for Amber and others like her.
“Cindy’s a doer,” Cathy expressed. “She asked my mom, ‘When are we going to do this? You’ve got journals and journals full of things the Lord revealed during this journey.’ It was really the two of them spearheading the project, pulling all of us along.”
The resulting community is being built in the round, with eight residences set to provide long-term housing for up to 48 special needs “neighbors” and their support families.
Each residence will consist of a two-story, four-bedroom house connected to six micro homes complete with mini kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and closet. Compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, these living spaces will offer privacy and easy access to common areas for dining, cooking and hanging out with the host family and other neighbors.
Housing will be divided by gender on either side of the community. In the middle there will be continuing education buildings, a salon, a small triage/medical unit and a community center featuring a pool, half-court basketball facility and kitchen of sufficient size to host all Amber Grace residents for a meal.
In scouting possible locations for Amber Grace, the Turners ranged as far as Texas and as close as Rome before determining that the campus where daughter Amy attended college would be the perfect location. Following the suggestion of Amy’s father-in-law, Bubba, the Turners reached out to then-President Steve Briggs. Conversations with him further convinced them that their desire to create a safe, nurturing environment fostering lifelong learning opportunities aligned perfectly with Berry’s mission, an assessment shared by college leadership.
David and Debbie Turner tour the site with Chris Baldwin, right, who serves as executive director for the Amber Grace Community.
“When we thought about putting Amber Grace at Berry, we knew there was a great dynamic and an opportunity for service and connection with students, faculty and even residents of The Spires retirement community,” Cathy related. “Berry is the perfect place. The community we are forming echoes Martha Berry’s model of educating the head, heart and hands.”
With completion expected this fall, the Amber Grace team is in the process of accepting applications for host families with the goal of moving them into their homes by year end. Neighbors, including the project’s namesake, will follow in early 2026.
Visit ambergrace.com for more details.
