High Impact Living™
Socially Inclusive Housing Design & Development Consulting
Our mission is to create socially integrated communities where people with intellectual disabilities live alongside diverse populations in dignified, community-based affordable housing.
About Robert Erio, Founder & Principal Consultant, High Impact Living™
Robert Erio
Founder & Principal Consultant, High Impact Living™
California Systems Strategist – Aging, Disability, and Housing Integration
Robert Erio is a housing strategist and systems-change leader with more than 35 years of experience advancing community-based living solutions for older adults and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).
As Chief Operating Officer of Community Integration Services, Inc. (CIS), he oversees program innovation under SCAN Health Plan's Connections at Home insurance product—one of California's only health-funded models supporting integrated, social-model adult day services.
Robert authored "Designing a Cottage Home Community Cluster Without 'Making a Cluster,'" a statewide framework for socially integrated housing that connects aging adults, individuals with I/DD, veterans, and low-income residents within small, service-enriched neighborhoods. His work presents a practical alternative to institutional care, rooted in natural community inclusion and human-scale design.
Earlier in his career at Lanterman Regional Center, Robert helped implement the Community Placement Plan alongside Dr. Richard Koch, pioneer of the state's developmental-disabilities service system, and George Braddock of Creative Housing Solutions, a nationally recognized leader in inclusive housing design. Their collaboration advanced California's early transitions from developmental centers to customized community homes—a foundation that continues to inform Robert's work today.
He continues to guide service agencies and developers across California in creating dignity-centered, inclusive communities shaped through thoughtful experience design and the principles of social architecture.
Our Approach: Cottage Home Cluster Communities™
High Impact Living (HIL) addresses California's escalating housing challenges by championing a transformative solution: Cottage Home Cluster Communities. This model offers a vital alternative to traditional institutional housing, promoting inclusion, autonomy, and belonging for diverse populations including older adults, neurodiverse individuals (such as those with I/DD), veterans, and others with long-term support needs.
Unlike conventional housing programs that often segregate individuals by diagnosis or age, our intentionally designed, small-scale neighborhoods are built upon three foundational principles:
  • Intentionality – thoughtfully planned communities foster natural connection, privacy, and walkable shared space.
  • Integration – residents span generations and include aging adults, veterans, and neurodiverse individuals.
  • Belonging – design encourages mutual recognition, peer support, and neighborhood-level identity.
Key Community Principles
Socially Inclusive
Cottage Communities extend affordable housing to all populations qualifying by income, regardless of age, disability, family status, or background. HIL ensures true inclusion by using income as the primary gateway while providing customized support tailored to individual needs. For example, a veteran receives trauma-informed care, a senior gets aging-in-place support, a person with I/DD accesses developmental services, and a single parent receives childcare resources—all within the same community, qualifying based on income, and each receiving the specific supports necessary to thrive.
Resident-Driven
HIL empowers community members with a real voice and choice in how their neighborhood operates. Residents actively lead decision-making processes, from selecting cottage mates to planning community activities, with appropriate support. This empowerment model moves beyond traditional service delivery, fostering authentic community ownership and self-determination. Central to this is the expectation that all residents contribute to community life through shared responsibilities, whether through cottage maintenance, meal preparation, garden care, or peer support. This mutual commitment cultivates interdependence, where everyone both gives and receives, fostering genuine investment in the community's success.
A Healthy, Vibrant Place to Be
HIL designs living spaces that recognize the profound impact of environment on well-being. We intentionally create attractive and uplifting surroundings—beautiful landscaping, thoughtful architecture, well-maintained common areas, and inspiring design elements that foster hope and dignity. This approach emphasizes that well-cared-for environments have transformative power on mental health, social connection, and personal motivation, enabling residents to thrive and meet their full potential.
This vision represents more than a response to housing scarcity; it is a direct response to isolation, fragmentation, and the shortcomings and outdatedness of institutional models. HIL's Cottage Home Cluster Communities create pathways for people to age in place, thrive with minimal intervention, and build relationships that transcend service categories.
While not a singular solution to mass homelessness, these communities serve as a crucial pilot for reshaping public funding priorities. HIL advocates for shifting away from warehouse-style shelters and institutional group homes towards person-centered, community-integrated models. By demonstrating that vulnerable populations can truly thrive in supportive neighborhood settings, these communities offer a proof of concept for broader housing policy reform. They challenge the conventional wisdom that only emergency response and crisis intervention are viable, instead proposing that preventive, relationship-rich environments reduce long-term costs and significantly improve quality of life. As successful pilots, Cottage Communities can inform new funding streams, zoning reforms (like supporting efforts with the Draft Adaptive Reuse Ordinance), and service delivery models that prioritize dignity and self-determination over surveillance and compliance. Ultimately, HIL's approach builds a bridge between emergency housing responses and the inclusive, stable communities that should be the ultimate goal of public investment in human services, strengthening connections and honoring the full humanity of all residents.
Advancing California's DDS Housing Vision
Building on the Set-Aside Model Through Customized, Inclusive Design
California's inclusive housing groundwork is already laid. Through the DDS Multifamily Housing Program, more than 50 developments statewide now include dedicated set-aside units for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities—creating nearly 700 homes with over $60 million in state investment. These projects align with the Olmstead vision of full community participation—people with I/DD living alongside seniors, families, and working adults in affordable, well-designed housing.High Impact Living™ extends that vision by turning integration into intention. Our Cottage Home Cluster model evolves the DDS approach—from isolated set-asides within large complexes to human-scale neighborhoods where inclusion is the organizing principle.
California's Department of Developmental Services (DDS) has established a strong foundation for community living through its Set-Aside Housing Initiative, funded under the Community Resource Development Plan (CRDP). These projects have already proven that inclusive, community-based housing for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) is both achievable and transformative.
High Impact Living™ (HIL) builds on this DDS legacy—offering a next-generation approach that deepens inclusion through customized architecture and Universal Design. Our Cluster Community™ framework complements the Set-Aside model by embedding person-centered design principles directly into the physical environment.
Drawing inspiration from George Braddock's pioneering work in person–environment fit, HIL applies the same philosophy at the systems level—ensuring that every home and surrounding neighborhood is designed to reflect the strengths, preferences, and sensory realities of the people who live there.
The DDS Housing Map highlights the statewide progress already underway. HIL's role is to help advance that vision—guiding future CRDP and Set-Aside investments toward architecturally distinctive, universally accessible, and socially integrated communities that expand choice, independence, and belonging for all Californians.
Our Services
High Impact Living™ offers comprehensive services to champion truly inclusive and affordable housing solutions. We leverage our expertise to transform housing concepts into thriving, integrated communities.
Housing Development Consulting
We provide expert guidance on developing inclusive housing, meticulously integrating Universal Design principles from concept to construction. Our approach ensures accessibility, adaptability, and dignity for all residents, fostering environments where everyone can thrive.
Policy & Systems Architecture
Our team specializes in aligning housing projects with crucial legal frameworks, including Olmstead requirements and disability rights legislation. We design robust policy and operational systems that prioritize integration and self-determination for individuals with I/DD.
Community Integration Planning
We develop strategic plans to ensure seamless inclusion of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) within mainstream affordable housing developments. Our focus is on fostering genuine belonging and mutual support within diverse communities.
Partnership Development
We forge impactful collaborations between mission-aligned organizations and leading developers like Affordable Housing Developer Hugh Martinez. By uniting strengths, we accelerate the creation of inclusive projects that address critical housing needs and maximize community benefit.
Legacy I/DD Home Makeovers
Transforming Campus-Style Group Homes into Socially Integrated Living Environments
Across California, many adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities still live in the legacy campus and "six-pack" group home models developed in the 1970s and 1980s. These homes—once groundbreaking alternatives to institutional care—now reflect a service era that prioritized supervision over self-determination. Shared bedrooms, clustered layouts, and institutional aesthetics have left many residents living apart from the life of their communities.
The Legacy Home Makeover Initiative calls for a state-supported transformation effort led by the Department of Developmental Services (DDS). Through a dedicated grant or pilot funding stream, Legacy Model organizations could apply for targeted "makeover" resources—funding upgrades that convert outdated environments into person-centered, socially connected, and aging-ready homes.
High Impact Living™ serves as the experience-design partner in this process, guiding providers through environmental assessment, design adaptation, and community integration planning. Our approach draws from inclusive design frameworks pioneered by George Braddock of Creative Housing Solutions—ensuring that every space is reimagined around the people who live there, rather than the service model itself.
By investing in transformation rather than replacement, DDS can modernize California's housing infrastructure sustainably—preserving the relational heart of legacy homes while aligning them with today's values of choice, autonomy, and belonging.
Fairview Developmental Center Social Inclusion Initiative: Positioning for Partnership
The Fairview Developmental Center, a site steeped in history, stands at a pivotal moment. This initiative, championed by HIL in partnership with Affordable Housing Developer Hugh Martinez, presents a strategic advocacy to integrate meaningful inclusion for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) within the broader repurposing of the former institution. Our vision is to ensure the overall redevelopment transitions from a legacy of segregation to a beacon of inclusion, where diverse populations, including individuals with I/DD, can thrive together within integrated residential communities.
This high-level proposal outlines the expertise and commitment of HIL and Affordable Housing Developer Hugh Martinez to support the main developer as partners or subcontractors. It's an advocacy for thoughtful planning and design that ensures equity, accessibility, and genuine inclusion for I/DD residents within the larger site's framework. Our focus is on contributing to the Fairview site becoming a model for socially integrated housing, fostering a community where supportive services for I/DD residents are embedded, accessible, and tailored to individual needs without isolating them from the broader community.
Overall Site Context: Current Conditions
Overall Site Context: Redevelopment Concept
1
Timely Advocacy Opportunity
Current plans for the Fairview site propose 2,300-4,000 residential units, including 920+ affordable units (575 for very low income and 345 for low income residents). The site spans approximately 109-121 acres, with around 15 acres reserved for a state emergency operations center. However, current redevelopment concepts do not explicitly include provisions for I/DD residents, despite the site's historical significance as an institution for this community. This creates a critical, timely opportunity for HIL and Affordable Housing Developer Hugh Martinez to influence the ongoing planning process, with the Specific Plan anticipated for completion by late 2026, by proposing to deliver up to 25% of homes specifically designed for adults with I/DD.
2
A Collaborative Partnership 🤝
HIL, in close collaboration with Affordable Housing Developer Hugh Martinez, aims to secure recognition as an inclusion-capable partner to the main developer. This alliance, also involving community stakeholders and advocacy groups, is dedicated to realizing a truly inclusive future for Fairview. Our collective effort is essential to ensure sustainable development and community responsiveness, leveraging Affordable Housing Developer Hugh Martinez's development expertise and Robert Erio's (HIL) systems and inclusion architecture to contribute specialized housing solutions.
3
Advocating for I/DD Inclusion 🌟
Central to our vision is the passionate advocacy for individuals with I/DD, positioning this collaboration as a key partner who can deliver on this commitment. Our proposed contribution ensures their meaningful inclusion in the redevelopment, moving beyond institutional models to create a living environment that supports their independence, dignity, and full participation in community life.
4
Transforming a Legacy 🏡➡️🌳
The redevelopment of Fairview is an unparalleled opportunity to transform a site's legacy from one of segregation to one of inclusion. Our partnership seeks to contribute to a physical space and a new community that actively embraces diversity, promotes interdependence, and offers an enhanced quality of life for all its inhabitants through specialized I/DD housing solutions.
This initiative represents a strategic framework for what is possible through partnership, rather than a confirmed plan. It is a powerful and timely advocacy for positioning HIL and Affordable Housing Developer Hugh Martinez as critical partners for the future of Fairview, laying the groundwork for a community that embraces diversity, promotes interdependence, and offers an enhanced quality of life for all its inhabitants, especially considering its historical ties to the I/DD community.
Project Partners and Contact
Bob Erio
High Impact Living™ (HIL)
System & Inclusion Architecture
Affordable Housing Systems Consultant & Inclusion Strategist
Hugh Martinez
Affordable Housing Development Expertise
Real Estate Development & Construction Management