Housing for the Disabled, Right Here
Housing for disabled adults in New Jersey.
The current economic crisis, and its effect on the housing market.
This post is about both of those topics.
Don’t stop reading—this is an upbeat post, despite the subject matter.
Certainly one wishes that the question of housing for disabled adults weren’t the sort of topic that is accompanied by words like “worries” and “depressing.” But it very much is, right now. In New Jersey, where we live, the waiting list of developmentally disabled adults wishing to move into government-supported community housing has over 8000 people on it. Last week’s report that 28-year-old Tara O’Leary died of starvation after being removed from a group home run by New Jersey’s Department of Developmental Disabilities, and that her death is being investigated, add to the concern, as does the story of 35-year-old Kate Southern in Illawarry, Australia.
Yesterday’s New York Times reports on Our House, a New Jersey nonprofit that creates housing for developmentally disabled people by buying and renovating single-family homes in suburban communities. With prices falling in the housing market, and fewer people looking to buy, Our House has been able to purchase some new homes at reasonable prices:
On one of the purchases in Berkeley Heights — in a well-established neighborhood of homes valued at $1 million and up — Our House was the only bidder. For $700,000, it scored a five-bedroom ranch with a large yard and a new kitchen.
A four-bedroom house a few blocks away was bought for $525,000; a four-bedroom ranch in West Orange was also purchased, for $425,000. All three houses are now being converted, and will open as group homes early next year.
Further, there’s been changes in New Jersey’s Council on Affordable Housing regulations to ensure that municipalities make housing for the disabled available:
In the past, towns were able to meet their affordable-unit quota by taking part in a regional agreement that permitted the trading of credits between municipalities. The recent changes eliminated this option, explained [George] Vallone, a developer with a company called Hoboken Brownstone, and now each town must meet its own obligations.
Vallone is also the President of Our House’s board, all of whom are volunteers.
Our House was particularly concerned about the needs of disabled adults as they grow older. Another member of the Our House board, Richard V. Olsen, a professor of environmental psychology at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, provided these recommendations for the kind of the house to look for:
“a ranch house on a level lot, since wheelchairs might become a necessity; abundant natural light to accommodate aging eyes; easy flow between the rooms; and wide aisles and door frames.”
All things I’m filing away as we keep moving forward in preparing Charlie, and ourselves, for the future.
Tags: affordable housing, asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, developmentally disabled, disabilities blog, disability, group home, housing, New Jersey, our houseRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Living Arrangements, New Jersey
3 opinions for Housing for the Disabled, Right Here
siliconmom
Dec 1, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Wouldn’t it be nice if, in order to get their bailout money, mortgage companies were required to turn a certain number of their properties into group homes for people with disabilities?
Joseph
Dec 1, 2008 at 7:16 pm
How are the transportation arrangements? Will all the residents need to rely on private cars and drivers, or are the houses close to bus routes, or is paratransit service available, or something else?
Kristina Chew, PhD
Dec 1, 2008 at 8:25 pm
@Joseph,
Through NJ Transit, there’s AccessLink to provide public transportation for those with disabilities, but (at least from hearing from one person’s experience), its reliability varies. If the houses are located in a suburban town like the one we live in, there may not be a lot of sidewalks and business districts could be some distance away.
@siliconmom,
we can dream, ah yes!
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