About Flourish
We want to change the way the world sees people with disabilities.
Our mission is to build places of community and purpose for people with disabilities and their families. Adults with IDD face two big problems: belonging and purpose. We’re starting with a home, because once people live together, we can solve the next problem together.
Why Flourish
Flourish started with Seth’s sister, Leah.
For years, Seth Barnes Jr. used to pray for his sister, Leah, to be healed. About 20 years ago, while serving as a missionary in Eswatini, Africa, he felt God tell him, “It’s not for lack of love that I made Leah the way that I did.”
It made Seth realize that God sees Leah differently than he did, and that she doesn’t need to be fixed: “He created her intentionally,” Seth says. “We’re all broken in different ways.”
So he stopped praying for Leah to be healed and started working to change how the world sees people like her. Leah has a contribution to make to the world. She has purpose. If we saw Leah and people like her as valuable members of society, we’d include them. Flourish is where Leah and so many others can belong.
Listen
Hear Seth tell the story on Beyond the Visit.
Seth shared more of his story on the podcast Beyond the Visit: Continuing the Conversation for “Creating Intentional Communities for Adults with IDD” in August 2026.
Seth’s part starts at 15:55.
How we’re building it
Three principles have guided Flourish from the start.
Financially flexible
Families can buy a home or rent a room, and pay only for the services they need.
Replicable
Flourish is built so other communities can do the same. We reinvest what we earn from homes into the next community.
Integrated
People with and without disabilities live together as neighbors.
Where it stands
We’ve been working on Flourish for seven years.
The county approved Flourish a little over a year ago, and the civil engineering is done. Next comes funding and the first homeowners. We plan to break ground early next year.
Who’s behind Flourish
These are the people building Flourish.
Seth Barnes Jr.
Seth Barnes Jr. is passionate about creating places where people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families can build friendships, find purpose, and feel at home. He lives in Gainesville, Georgia, with his wife, Christina, and their three children. Whether he’s taking his family on an adventure or smoking meat for a table full of friends, Seth loves bringing people together. That same love for connection shapes his vision for Flourish Community.
David Tran
David is Seth’s partner in developing Flourish.
Ken and Kelly Mitchell
Ken and Kelly are Flourish’s Community Directors, and they’ll know every resident by name.
Adventures in Missions
Flourish is on the Adventures in Missions campus in North Hall County. Seth’s father founded the Christian missions organization in 1989.
The waiting list
Save your family’s place.
Join the waiting list, and we’ll be in touch as homes open.
Not ready yet? Keep me posted with our newsletter instead.
