Caring for Our Neighbors with Special Needs
Author Jeff Peck, CEO and Founder of the Big Wave Project
As Pacifica residents, you may have heard of the Big Wave Project. Close to Half Moon Bay, we are parents of adult children with special needs who are creating a unique community on the coast, providing homes for our adult children and their peers.
Now through Big Wave, local adults with special needs will now be able to live independently, close to family and friends on the coast. This is an effort I have been working on for 21 years now, as your neighbor. We must allocate for our most vulnerable residents with special needs.
Mary Pancoast, a Pacifica resident, wife and mom of two daughters, wishes every adult with a disability could have a home with support. “We have become aware lately of what Big Wave is doing for adults with special needs, and we think it is a beautiful thing, especially when there has been so much bad news lately; it’s good to have some good news.” Pancoast is an aromatherapist and owner of Shen Aroma Farm, and loves that Big Wave includes a farm where vulnerable adults can work the land and soon will be comfortable in a necessary environment: their own community.
Our residents continue to grow around the Big Wave Farm, a pesticide-free project that sells fresh eggs and produce to Coastside neighborhoods. Working with our land in an ecologically-friendly way is part of our history and demonstrates our love and commitment to the Half Moon Bay coast and its natural resources. We invite you to come visit our farm, and please don’t mind our construction close by—our efforts will soon result in a new community, one where you are always welcome.
At Big Wave, we care about our community. We see our coastal land as healing and caring, as a place where adults with special needs come to connect and grow.
After the pandemic is over, we will go back to our many programs: from a local basketball team to growing food on a pesticide-free farm to informal get-togethers that give our future residents a feeling of belonging. Our values include community, hard work, and peer support for adults with special needs.
Our families will partner with organizations that have a proven record of innovative programs. These programs incorporate vocational, residential, and emotional support in a comprehensive and nurturing environment to help each person achieve new skills and confidence, ensuring local families the best chance of success for their adult children.
Big Wave has completed an eight-year, 6000 page, peer-reviewed environmental impact report, which was reviewed and approved by the County of San Mateo and the California Coastal Commission. We are proud to report that both of these critical agencies deemed the project posed no substantial environmental impacts. All buildings will conform to all Cal Green codes.
If you have any questions about this project, please contact Big Wave.