Housing through The Rosemary Sherman Needs-Based Fund

The Big Wave Group is dedicated to providing Bay Area housing and a place to belong for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Only 3% of special needs adults in San Mateo County are served by available housing, creating a crisis for this vulnerable community. Though all adults with special needs are at the highest risk for lifelong poverty, some face even more challenging circumstances, including extremely limited resources and a lack of family support.

The Rosemary Sherman Fund to Support Needs-Based Families is dedicated to raising funds so that we can offer a portion of Big Wave’s apartments to qualified individuals in need. The Fund is named after the late grandmother of a future Big Wave resident, Sawyer Nordin. In 2011, Rosemary Sherman founded the Providing Hope foundation through which she developed programs benefitting children with special needs, at-risk youth, and individuals facing poverty. With contributions from Rosemary’s Providing Hope foundation, the first $200,000 of donations to this Fund will be matched.

With your contribution, we can ensure that special needs adults of all economic backgrounds can share in the benefits of this special community. Every bit of support will get us closer to making this dream a reality for families in need.

This project has been a long time in the making due to the complexity of building on coastal property, inflation costs, and the impact of Covid. We are excited about how much we’ve accomplished, but we need your help now more than ever.