HUD Announces Rental Assistance to Thousands of People with Disabilities

via Disability.gov:

HUD has announced that thousands of non-elderly Americans with disabilities will receive housing assistance to enable them to access affordable housing. Public housing authorities across the country will distribute approximately 4,300 rental assistance vouchers. HUD is awarding nearly $33 million to fund these vouchers through its Rental Assistance for Non-Elderly Persons with Disabilities Program. These grants are part of the $40 million HUD made available in April 2010 to help public housing authorities fund rental vouchers for non-elderly persons with disabilities.

Please note- when I went to the link, some of this information appeared to be for 2009. For more information and for questions, please go directly to disability.gov

Purple Heart Homes

via its site:

After returning home and building a house Dale realized a need for all veterans who have mobility limiting service connection injuries. This need has been recognized by some organizations which have assisted veterans and their families in acquiring housing that is suitable to their needs. This is achieved through construction, remodeling, or renovation.

Purple Heart Homes, Inc. Is dedicated to providing housing for disabled veterans that is substantial in function, design, and quality... fit to welcome home the fighting men and women of America."

Dale I. Beatty SSG USA (ret)

The Purple Heart Homes site can be found here.

Obama Administration Announces HUD housing assistance for people with disabilities and elderly

More here.

Matt's Place: 17 days down, 113 to go....

Matt Eddy, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is wheeling across America to raise money and awareness of the need for housing for people with severe disabilities to keep them out of institutions. Matt, who was given six months to live outside of an institution, has been in his apartment for nine years. Matt's institutionalized care cost approximately $1.2 million a year. It is estimated it costs about $285,000 in the community. His efforts have helped design a prototype apartment which takes into account the need he has to stay on a ventilator and requires personal care, so it includes things like a roll in shower. The video below explains more.

He has already logged in 17 days on his journey from Boston to California.

Roll'n Across America from Shawn P. Morrissey on Vimeo.

You can visit Matt's site here.

National Council on Disability Calls for Affordable, Accessible, and Appropriate Housing for People with Disabilities

WASHINGTON—The National Council on Disability (NCD) today released a report titled

The State of Housing in America in the 21st Century: A Disability Perspective that provides recommendations intended to improve housing opportunities for people with disabilities.

This report looks at the state of housing for people with disabilities with the intent to provide recommendations that can improve housing opportunities. The research contained in this report provides a comprehensive overview of the state of housing in the twenty-first century and answers important questions about the current housing needs and options for people with disabilities living in the United States.

NCD undertook this study with three objectives in mind: 1) to evaluate public laws, policies, and program initiatives affecting the housing opportunities available to Americans with disabilities and others who have accessible housing needs for whatever reason, whether due to aging or a temporary disability; 2) to analyze what housing, supports, and other benefits are available through the public, nonprofit, and/or private sectors; and 3) to provide recommendations that can improve housing opportunities for people with disabilities in the United States.

According to NCD Chairperson Linda Wetters, “Affordable, accessible, and appropriate housing is critical and integral to making a community more livable for people with disabilities. In this report, NCD finds that there are unmet housing needs based solely on standard measures of housing affordability. This analysis also reveals a gap between current policy goals and outcomes — even with laws in place requiring a portion of units to be accessible, some developers and property owners do not comply. Whether it is due to ignorance or intent, the evidence suggests we have missed opportunities to increase the supply of accessible, affordable housing.”

The findings and recommendations contained in this document are grounded in data and research gathered from federal agencies, either directly or via published reports, and from research completed by academics and disability advocates. This report also provides evidence of what can be effective in meeting the range of housing needs among a diverse group of consumers with disabilities. This includes best and promising practices drawn from real examples, and lessons learned from experts working on housing issues and policy. In reviewing best and promising practices, data was triangulated from different sources — interviews, published reports, and Internet research — to assure a comprehensive assessment. To this end, the research has been reviewed and commented on by a diverse panel of experts and consumer groups that have all provided valuable insights and guidance.

Some of the recommendations include:

Increase affordable, accessible, and integrated housing for people with disabilities to meet needs and demand.

Increase access to existing units.

Prevent further loss of affordable, accessible housing.

Expand and focus usage of vouchers.

Improve fair housing enforcement of disability rights.

The purpose of NCD, an independent federal agency, is to promote programs, practices, policies and procedures that ensure full inclusion of people with disabilities into all aspects of society. NCD accomplishes this mission by providing advice and making recommendations to the President, Congress, governmental agencies, and other stakeholders.

For more information, please contact NCD’s Director of Public Affairs, Mark S. Quigley, at mquigley@ncd.gov or by telephone at 202-272-2004.

You can find a copy of the report here.

44% of housing discrimination complaints disability-related last year

Out of the record 10, 552 complaints filed for housing discrimination in 2008, 44% were due to disability-based discrimination.

via disability scoop:

The data, included in an annual report to Congress, includes housing discrimination complaints made directly to HUD and those made to state and local agencies that work with HUD. All complaints must specify one of seven reasons for discrimination including race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability or familial status.

Disability Scoop provides the following information:

Those with concerns about housing discrimination can contact HUD at (800) 669-9777 or click here for more information.

Help for homeless vets

This letter in the Baltimore Sun online explains benefits available to homeless vets. It's written by the executive director of the Homeless Persons Representation Project Inc. and the co-chairman of the Maryland State Bar Association's Military Law Committee.

One third of the homeless, it is estimated, are vets. These programs are underutilized and, the authors claim, improper denials and lengthy waits occur.

Highlights:

The Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program can provide a rent subsidy to veterans that allows them to pay approximately 30 percent of their income for rent. This program is a major tool to end homelessness

Some veterans may be eligible for service-connected disability compensation, which can pay them more than $2,600 a month, depending on their disability rating, and can more than cover the cost of housing

Seniors in trouble with housing

Many of you out there are contacting me because you are facing changed financial circumstances due to parents losing money in retirement accounts. The plan to go into assistive housing or a private senior housing community may no longer be affordable for your family. The question becomes: can the rest of the family pitch in? Sometimes not. If so, I'd like to refer you to a resource.

You can search for subsidized housing for seniors. (You enter the State, county or city where you need housing, whether for yourself, a parent or loved one.) You'll get a list of units your parents can rent that are based on your parents' income . Check the requirements of each facility: for example, with some of them, if your parent(s) currently own a home they need to sell , they can move into certain units , sell their home and their rent is determined accordingly. They do not, however, need to own a home by any means to get into these units! This housing can keep loved ones near you in a way that is affordable and safe and make the transition easier for everyone.

Although this arrangement does not offer the same services as assisted living, it may be a housing alternative that should be checked out by a family. There are many rules and guidelines that determine the rental cost for each resident, but the good news is that as income diminishes and medical costs rise, the rent may be adjusted.

You can also check for information with your county department of the aging and social services to see what type of housing would be most suitable. If you are a senior on your own and need information, do not be afraid to call and ask questions. You can find the information you need in one phone call that may take you months to find by yourself, or, worse yet, lose financial ground while delaying action. As difficult as change may be, there are advantages to facing a situation realistically and taking timely action.

[This is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied on as professional advice.]

The not for TV ratings extreme home makeovers

Last night I watched Extreme Home Makeover, a rerun of a program about two women: a mother of four, her youngest son with Cerebral Palsy and a senior citizen, who was sharing her duplex with them.

On the senior citizen's side, large pieces of plastic were hung on the first floor so she could keep it warmer. Her heating system didn't work.

On the family's side, a makeshift steep ramp was put up so family members could push their growing and increasingly heavier youngest member in his wheelchair. Once inside, he could not move independently since there wasn't room. He had to be lifted up a steep flight of steps, lifted for bathing and, as he grew older, so did his mother.

These are the kinds of issues that can result in institutionalization for people with disabilities. Existing housing cannot accommodate the needs of a member with severe disabilities.

The Extreme Home Makeover team came in, redesigned the homes with an eye toward access, put in lifts and an elevator, a ramp and, as usual, set up an ideal arrangement.

So why oh why after watching the program did I turn off my TV feeling sick to my stomach? Because across my desk comes story after story of people in either institutions or inaccessible homes struggling every day simply to get out of their doors, bathe, sleep and have a bit of dignity in their lives.

Is this how we treat the most vulnerable in our country? Do we choose half a dozen families a year in this plight, turn their lives into a TV show and fix their situations? Is that all we can do? No. I do not believe that and here's why.

In every show, community members show up and help. There are crowds of people who help the contractors and support the crew. Contractors donate their time and services. Companies donate products. They get advertising, they get filmed and - yes- some would say people won't do it without that, but that's not true.

People did it for me. There were no TV cameras. No publicity. Just honest, hardworking folks who gave up their time to help me get a ramp, an accessible kitchen and bathroom and a home in a community. They did it because they cared.

And mine is not the only story like that. But we need more. We need to work together toward affordable and available accessible housing as communities and express our commitment to inclusion, as people of good heart and faith, by letting candidates, members of the Senate, and House of Representatives and other officials know that we have the foresight to realize that our country is facing a housing crisis as baby boomers age, a crisis that already leaves thousands of people institutionalized needlessly or suffering behind closed doors without the ability to leave their homes or bathe.

Dignity is a word that we throw around a lot. But I can assure you, having lived in inaccessible housing for a lengthy period of time before I was helped, there is no dignity where there is no access. The independence you have fought so hard to keep by maximizing your physical abilities is stripped away by physical barriers.

This is not easy stuff to talk about, but we must. I know we aren't a country of people only concerned about getting on TV or selling our products. I know that because I live in an accessible home, the only private accessible rental unit in my community.

The only one. And, perhaps, that is part of why when I turn off the tv I feel sick to my stomach.

We can all do better.

ADAPT Fights Back on Left Behind in Election Year Agendas

Media Advisory:

Monday, September 15, 2008

For Information Contact;

Randy Alexander (901) 359-4982

Marsha Katz (406) 544-9504

www.adapt.org

ADAPT Fights Back re: Nation's Low Income People with Disabilities Left Behind in Election Year Agendas

Who: ADAPT Community (500 disability rights activists from all over the country.) ADAPT is the nation's largest cross-disability grassroots disability rights organization.

What: News conference to announce opening of DUH City.

When: 10 a.m. on Monday, September 15, 2008

Where: The plaza outside the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,

451 7th Street S.W.,=2 0Washington, DC 20410

Why: The 2008 election campaigns have included rhetoric about tax breaks for middle income families, and media coverage has included stories about families who have children with disabilities.

Left out of all the election rhetoric are the candidates' positions on and commitments to those babies with disabilities who grow into adults with disabilities who all-too-often survive on extremely low incomes (less than 30% of the median income). These extremely low incomes are often the fixed benefit amounts of SSI and Social Security.

In 2006, according to Priced Out in 2006, the federal SSI benefit was $603/month and the average cost nationally of renting a studio/efficiency apartment was $633/month.

There are not enough AFFORDABLE, ACCESSIBLE, INTEGRATED housing units to handle the current demand in communities across America. When the Community Choice Act (S 799, H.R. 1621) passes, and older and disabled people can choose to live in their own homes instead of being forced into nursing homes and other institutions, the need for affordable, accessible housing will increase. And as the baby-boomers continue to age, the demand will grow exponentially.

HUD, Congress and the Administration have broken promises, cut funding for housing stock and housing subsidies and enforcement of anti-discrimination housing laws, and simply ignored the nation's low-income people with disabilities altogether.

ADAPT has established "DUH City" (reverse of HUD) to bring attention to and document the struggle of low income people with disabilities. When the average rent for even an efficiency apartment is more than your monthly income……where do you wind up? All too often you're forced out on the street or into a nursing home or other institution. DUH!
From May 1, 2007 Meeting with HUD secretary Jackson in which he says fair housing is a right....

so why isn't it an election issue?

In 1999, the Supreme Court affirmed the rights of people with disabilities to live in community settings in the Olmstead case. Here's a brief history:


Here is the ADAPT Housing platform. [pdf file] or a summary in non pdf form.

Being a contortionist to use the dishwasher

Wheelchair Dancer wrote about how letters have been sent out to enforce the provisions of the Fair Housing Act regarding accessibility for those with disabilities in New York city recently.

Another NY Times article talks about accessible homes in New York that aren't accessible, according to people with disabilities who live in them.

To spend an afternoon with Ms. Galler, 72, as she navigates her supposedly accessible apartment in Battery Park City is to understand the difficulties those who use wheelchairs can confront in newer housing. “Most people might never imagine these difficulties,” said Ms. Galler, who contracted polio at the age of 10 but was able to walk until a few years ago.

She cannot open or close windows by herself because the locks are too high. She cannot get her wheelchair into the bedroom closet — and has not returned to her bathroom in the wheelchair since being trapped there for two hours. Now she takes several laborious steps with braces to enter the room. Her bathtub is unreachable. “I can use the dishwasher only by being a contortionist,” she said.

The garbage disposal room down the hall is a wheelchair barricade. And, she added, “my kitchen cabinets? Very beautiful. But I can’t reach them.”

Due to the lack of accessible housing, some disabled tenants are like virtual prisoners, according to Ms. Galler, who have to live in basements while seeking out accessible housing that is difficult to find. Some end up in either shelters or nursing homes when they don't need to be there.

I don't want to rent to you

[visual description: A picture of a "For Rent" sign is shown.]

My friend Charlie* is looking for an apartment. He uses a wheelchair and is visibly disabled. Although he can afford most of the apartments he's seen, has good credit and excellent references from former landlords, he's been turned down for every single one after he's gone to look at them.

Why? As one prospective landlord bluntly said to him "I don't want to rent to you. There'll be problems because you're in a wheelchair that I don't need to deal with."

This landlord was the eighth on a list of ten who turned Charlie down in a row. And the landlord was surprised when he was contacted by a local attorney who informed him that he violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against a person with a disability. Many of those renting or selling housing who act in discriminatory ways toward the disabled may find themselves in this position as the years go on. Expectations of people with disabilities have risen and some, like Charlie, will seek legal redress when denied housing.

Charlie told me that he wants to rent an apartment near his aging mother to make things easier. He's willing to jump through the legal hoops of filing complaints and possibly suing to have the same access to housing that able bodied people have enjoyed in our society. Not only does he need to solve his own personal situation, but he is doing it for other people with disabilities who may not have as many resources as he does.

"If nothing else," he told me, "maybe some of these landlords will think twice next time before automatically closing the door on a qualified tenant who has a disability." And he adds "Maybe it will save some young person from hearing those words 'I don't want to rent to you'."

To file a fair housing complaint, call toll-free at (800) 699-9777 or (800) 543-8294 (TDD). Or visit HUD on the Internet at http://www.hud.gov/complaints/housediscrim.cfm to fill out a discrimination claim online. Local Boards of Realtors will also accept complaints alleging violations of the Code of Ethics filed by a home seeker who alleges discriminatory treatment in the availability, purchase or rental of housing.

[*For reasons of privacy, Charlie is a fictitious name.]

Leaman Potental Foundation

Jesse Leaman was still in high school when he sustained an injury to his spinal cord. He went on to study astronomy, earned his bachelors and went on toward his Ph.D.

And he wants to give back. So he formed a foundation to work toward independent housing for people with disabilities- to fill in the gaps caused by lack of services - emphasizing a community approach where people benefit from services and give back in ways they can. Click above to read about his ideas -

And while you're over there, take a look at his Gryphon Shield if you haven't already seen it on Gizmodo. It's a gadget beyond belief designed for use on electric wheelchairs and scooters and personal mobility vehicles of all sorts - including things like rear view mirror, WiFi capabilities, a DVD player - wow! It can also be used to rig up enivonmental controls or monitor vital signs. Sort of like - NASA?

Disability at top of HUD list for discrimination complaints

People with disabilities are being discriminated against in housing in large numbers according to this HUD report. Click above for a link to the article as well as information to help you if you need to file a complaint.

Lawsuit claims Manhattan condo blocked prospective tenants with disabilities

Thomas Dern, Associate Executive Director of the nonprofit Young Adult Institute/National Institute for People with Disabilities, filed the first housing discrimination lawsuit the community residential program has filed in its 50-year history.

The article states:

"Last August, YAI/NIPD made an offer on two condo units at a cost of $1.3 million. The plan was to purchase the units, which are located next to each other on the same floor, and create housing and supports for five people. These five adults "have a dire need for a place to live" and either live an a group home "that is not appropriate for their needs" or are living with aging parents, Dern told Inclusion Daily Express in a telephone interview.

Dern and YAI/NIPD claim that the condominium board exercised its right of first refusal -- which amounts to buying a condo unit out from under a prospective buyer -- in this case specifically to keep people with developmental disabilities from moving in.
...
"I personally over the past 30 years of developing group homes in the New York Metropolitan area can tell you people have said discriminatory things against people with developmental disabilities. If you were to use the same exact language that they use, and substitute another class of people, they would never imagine saying anything like that...I happen to be an Irish Catholic. Would anyone say that letting anyone who is Irish Catholic into our neighborhood would lower our property values and our quality of life?"

To read the rest of the article, click above.

Via Inclusion News Daily