By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – What began as one mother’s quest for a thriving future for her son has turned into a groundbreaking moment for families across New Jersey.
Thrive, a first-of-its-kind, 32-unit residential community in Red Bank, with five affordable units, broke ground July 30 and is now under construction. The housing project is a vision of Karen Fluharty, inspired by her 23-year-old neurodivergent son Ryan. It will provide neurodivergent adults a chance to live independently, with dignity, purpose and support, she said.
The idea was born nearly six years ago.
“When my son was 15, concern for what happens after high school was a constant in my mind. It kept me up at night,” said Fluharty, who is a single parent.
She spoke before a crowd gathered for the project’s ceremonial first dig, hosted across the road from the project site at Coffee Corral.
Fluharty noted the need for neuroinclusive programs that would grow independent living skills, create a community, prepare neurodivergent individuals for the workforce and help them develop healthy relationships with others and more.
In 2019, Fluharty, a retail real estate executive with a global background in marketing, joined forces with longtime friends John and Robin Klein of Middletown to establish the company Thrive Red Bank, headquartered in the borough. Their mission was strengthened through collaboration with Parents with a Plan, a New Jersey-based nonprofit founded by Fluharty, dedicated to expanding neuroinclusive housing environments.
Last week, developers of Thrive – led by the Kleins, Fluharty and members of Parents with a Plan – were joined by other stakeholders, including representatives of the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services, community advocates and public officials, to put the shovels in the ground at 273 Shrewsbury Ave., located at the corner of Shrewsbur y Avenue and Drs. James Parker Boulevard. The neuroinclusive apartment community is set to open in 2027.
Creating the Blueprint
Fluharty explored nearly 60 neuroinclusive housing projects nationwide, determined that her son wouldn’t “graduate to the couch,” she said. “Failing to plan for his future was simply not an option.”
To understand the needs and goals of neurodivergent individuals, they learned from those who’ve built such projects in various parts of the country, including First Place in Phoenix, Arizona. First Place serves as a supportive housing and transition program for neurodivergent individuals that blends housing, life-skills education, employment training, and community integration, similar to Thrive but not entirely.
“There are other places that do bits and pieces of what we’re planning, but again, not the comprehensive approach we’re taking to an unapologetic commitment to quality,” said Christopher Manente, Ph.D, founding executive director of the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services. “This is the first of its kind project in the United States and the world.”
Manente noted that the project isn’t just about constructing a building, it’s about “building a community, fostering independence and creating a blueprint for (a) more inclusive future for adults with autism and other forms of neurodivergence.”
At the heart of this endeavor, he said, is a first-of-its-kind model of public-private partnerships between Rutgers University, Thrive Red Bank and members of the community.
The three-story, 34,000-square-foot residential building will provide 32 one-bedroom apartments, including five affordable housing options, with the first floor dedicated to amenities such as a shared community engagement space, a teaching kitchen, health and wellness space, a sensory space, and support services such as relationship counselors to help residents, among other services.
“There is no other residential program in the United States that has a formal, embedded partnership with a major research university that’s going to handle all of the quality assurance, oversight and talent recruitment for the people who work at Thrive,” Manente said.
Building a Community
Robin Klein noted that “the key word here is community,” enlisting opportunities from arts and entertainment to health care and volunteering in the borough. “Our residents can take a class at Basie Center for the Arts, or start a production at Two River Theater. They can learn to protect our oceans through Clean Ocean Action, swim at the YMCA, work at Riverview Medical Center,” she said. She noted there are volunteering prospects at Lunch Break and the Monmouth County SPCA, and other opportunities, such as taking courses at Brookdale Community College in nearby Lincroft or Long Branch.
“The need is so great for this community; the lack of housing is huge,” John Klein said, noting the importance of addressing critical housing gaps for neurodivergent individuals.
“We had to start somewhere,” he said.
New Jersey has more than 250,000 neurodivergent residents, Klein noted, which Fluharty said is “twice the capacity of MetLife Stadium.”
She also noted that many families do not have plans in place for what happens when the caretaker of a neurodivergent in- dividual becomes unable to care for them. Nearly three quarters are living with an aging family member, and nearly half of the population is not registered with the New Jersey Department of Developmental Disabilities, she said.
Fluharty also addressed the “crippling bureaucracy” in housing, making it difficult for some of the most challenged of the population to navigate the system, “with or without a parent.”
Addressing Demand and Expenses
Thrive Red Bank has already received over 5,000 inquiries. “We have nearly 50 applications for a project that we’re putting the shovel in the ground for today,” she said. “The demand is so significant.”
Fluharty said affordability is one of the many barriers to overcome.
The monthly cost for a unit at Thrive Red Bank is expected to be around $5,000, Fluharty said. Out of the 32 units, 27 will be private pay and five will be affordable housing units managed by the borough. Private pay residents can use their state Department of Developmental Disabilities budgets toward their rent.
Renting for the affordable units will be handled directly by the borough after the completion of the project.
Anyone age 18 and above is eligible to apply and residents don’t age out of the program. However, availability is limited and the cost may be prohibitive for many.
Sen. Vin Gopal (D-13) announced up to $200,000 in state grants secured this year for Parents with a Plan toward workforce development and praised the initiative with Thrive, noting it would impact “families generations from now that we don’t even know yet.”
Red Bank Mayor Billy Portman, who attended the groundbreaking with borough officials, said Thrive will make an “amazing contribution to the already rich fabric of volunteerism and nonprofits here in Red Bank.”
“We can become leaders for the future in this new type of neuroinclusive housing,” Fluharty said, but “we’re not there yet.”
As parents of neurodivergent children continue to dream, hope, collaborate and plan for their future, “We have to build better,” Fluharty said. “Innovating is not easy, but it is critical that we do it now.”
The article originally appeared in the August 7 – 13, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
