Wayland panel hears four providers as Cochituate Road housing plan takes shape

WAYLAND — November 6, 2025 — Wayland advisory panel hears four providers as it shapes a disability-housing plan for a town parcel. The 212 Cochituate Road Advisory Committee, chaired Thursday by Bill Whitney in Tom Fay's partial absence, took testimony from Wayside Youth and Family Support Network's Patty Sullivan, Riverside Community Care CEO Vic DiGravio, former Norwood Housing Authority director Steve Merritt, and Wayland Director of Student Services Ronnie Kessler. DiGravio, whose nonprofit runs 33 DDS group homes with 1,700 employees, urged fully accessible new construction and warned that without state funding "you're going to have problems." Sullivan said a proposed 30 percent federal cap on permanent supported housing "could leave up to 758 families unhoused." Kessler identified roughly five Wayland students likely to need residential supports after aging out at 22. The committee approved its Oct. 8 and Oct. 22 minutes and adjourned.