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A unique group of partners came together this week during a groundbreaking ceremony to announce the creation of the Academy for Neurodiversity on the Rowan College of South Jersey (RCSJ) campus.

Stakeholders on the collaborative model to provide lifelong services for the developmentally disabled include RCSJ, the Schools of Neurodiversity at the Gloucester County Special Services School District, Rowan University and its medical schools, as well as the governments of Gloucester and Cumberland counties.

Funded with $7.365 million in National Housing Trust funds and $3.75 million in grants from Gloucester County, the project will include the three-story Residences at South College Drive, which will provide 24 one-bedroom rent-supported apartments for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in addition to a community room, lounges, laundry facilities and office space for an on-site Counselor of Special Services.

“What we have created with the Academy for Neurodiversity is a unique collaborative program that should be a national model for integrating lifelong services for the developmentally disabled,” said Steve Sweeney, former Senate president, chair of the advisory board of The Steve Sweeney Center for Public Policy, and a longtime advocate for programs for the developmentally disabled. “In a single location, we offer multiple levels of education and workforce training, medical, mental health and behavioral services, legal advocacy, transportation, athletics and recreation, and today, we did the ground-breaking for an on-site housing complex.”

Following the press conference, Sweeney led a tour of the Stephen M. Sweeney Center for Special Services’ job training and placement programs and the Bankbridge Development Center’s autism unit.

“Rowan College of South Jersey is fortunate to be strategically positioned in the two counties of Cumberland and Gloucester, enabling the unique relationship between the Schools for Neurodiversity at the Gloucester County Special Services School District, the Vineland Public School District, our dual campus Adult Center for Transition (ACT) programs, and the college’s flagship partner, Rowan University, to facilitate connecting the groups and people that care about neurodiverse individuals,” said RCSJ President Frederick Keating.

The Academy will be chaired by RCSJ Dean of Academic Achievement & Special Services Guy Davidson.

According to him, the impetus behind the new initiative is to strengthen, expand, and enhance the connections and partnerships that are already in place — creating new relationships for the benefits of the students and communities that they serve.

“At RCSJ, we’ve been in the business of serving the disabled community in Gloucester County and the surrounding region for a long time,” said Davidson. “With our expansion into Cumberland County and the creation of the Academy, we’re more deeply connecting two regions of people and organizations that have made serving the neurodiverse community their lives’ work.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 6:27 p.m. ET Oct. 30 to add more photos of the event.