Colorado city breaks ground on new community for adults with disabilities

Tall Tales Ranch is officially under construction. Community leaders broke ground on the community for adults with disabilities on Aug. 12, in what is the next step toward what will be a community with living space with room for 32 people, a coffee shop, and an event barn.

The community is the idea of Pat and Susan Mooney and was inspired by their adult son Ross.

"I'm yoked. I want to do that right now," said Ross when asked about the opportunity to live on his own.

"This is really going to be a place where people all over are going to be able to socialize, and I think that's a missing piece for so many families," says Susan.

When Ross was 14, he was diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy, a rare genetic disorder that, among other things, deteriorates the white matter in the brain.

"We were just in shock," recalls Susan of the diagnosis. "There is no cure for this disease, but the treatment is a bone marrow transplant."

So the Mooneys went to Minnesota, where Ross received a bone marrow transplant from his brother Max.

The treatment worked, but the disease had done enough damage to Ross' brain that it left him with a permanent disability.

"It really affected every aspect of all of our lives," says Susan. "Our main concern was when we're no longer here, or when we're no longer able to care for him, what's going to happen? I always think death becomes particularly inconvenient when you have a child with a permanent disability."

That's when they had the idea for Tall Tales Ranch.

"We just knew that we had to try and do something for Ross," says Susan.

"This is really going to be a place where people all over are going to be able to socialize, and I think that's a missing piece for so many families," she says when talking about Tall Tales Ranch.

With the help of HomeAid Colorado, the Mooneys began raising money and have raised $19 million for the $23 million project. The Mooneys have been a part of every step in the process, including the name: Tall Tales Ranch.

"I like tall people, and I like telling tales," says Ross. "I like telling Tall Tales."