Michael Strouse, executive director of Community Living Opportunities, left, walks with Tom Frizell and his mother, Allison Frizell, on the property of what will become Midnight Farms, a home for clients with developmental disabilities. The site is at 2084 N. 600 Road south of Eudora.

Michael Strouse has a dream.

Someday soon, clients of Community Living Opportunities could open their front door, roll a wheelchair down the ramp onto a path, see green meadows, smell the smells of the country, feel the soft country breeze and hear the whinny of a therapy horse in the barn down the road.

This is his idea for Midnight Farms, a proposed CLO project 5 miles south of Eudora.

“For some of us the ‘good life’ is a rural one, and while some of us want to live it, others just want to have a piece of it. We think that Midnight Farms will bring much happiness to many families, children, adults and volunteers,” said Strouse, CLO’s executive director.

CLO, which serves clients with developmental disabilities, acquired the property in 2005. It currently includes a residence, some outbuildings, a road and a pad for a horse arena.

But the organization has hired contractors, plans have been developed, and funds have been raised for further development. CLO is working to build a second house and an equine facility for the therapy horses. The beginnings of the development this month coincides with the organization’s 30th anniversary.

Also, a path around the perimeter of the 40-acre property will allow for a walking path.

Ultimately, CLO’s plans call for four homes to house up to eight people with developmental disabilities and those who work with them. CLO’s model has a family living with two CLO clients in one home. The families are trained to help people with severe disabilities.

Many of the clients living on the farm will come from rural homes. Because the services they need to live safely and comfortably are frequently inadequate in sparsely populated areas, many of them are forced to leave their homes and come to the city. Midnight Farms will be an option that will feel more like home to them, Strouse said.

But there is much more to Midnight Farms than just houses. It will include training and riding of therapeutic horses. The project is expected to generate some income by offering fee-based services provided by CLO, the use of new meeting facilities, the grounds for camping and a pumpkin patch. For nonprofit organizations, such as scouting groups, using the facilities could be in exchange for service to people with disabilities. The facilities could be used for field trips by public schools.

CLO has overcome several hurdles to get to this point, including gaining approval from the county and resistance from some neighbors.

“There will always be opposition to any change in people’s neighborhoods,” says Jere McElhaney, a Douglas County commissioner. “But the CLO staff are dedicated to the project and committed to being good neighbors.”

Funding for the project comes from many sources, including grants, donations and Medicaid benefits that accompany residential clients.

Midnight Farms is scheduled to officially open in early 2009. For more information see the CLO Web site, clokansas.org.