“I can do what I want when I want” Ginger Jewitt

“I’m free, very free,” Sharon Lambert

“When I lived in the group home it was like living underground for too long,” Doug Brooks

“When I went to the bank to apply for a loan, they told me right off I couldn’t afford it, even though they approved one of my co-workers the same week. He made the same salary I did and had fewer assets, but all the loan officer saw was my disability. The bank president was a friend of my father’s and he told my dad about the decision before he told me,” Peter Macalaster

Whether they have their own money or not, people with disabilities tend to live in group homes, nursing homes, institutions, foster care, or with family in settings that do not allow them the control over their lives most other adults take for granted. The National Home of Your Own Alliance is making available information and assistance to give people with disabilities the opportunity to own and control their own homes.

Richard comes from a close-knit family, and works in a local lumber yard. Although he had always lived with his parents, in February, 1993 Richard moved into his own home just before his thirtieth birthday. Richard was able to take advantage of New Hampshire’s depressed real estate market and purchase a detached duplex condominium with a bath and a half, a laundry room, two bedrooms, a large back yard, and a heated basement for his woodworking shop. Richard’s family originally planned a lengthy transition for him, thinking it would take time for him to get comfortable in his new surroundings. On his first visit to his new house, Richard wanted to stay — this was home.

Edna values her hard-won independence and privacy. After her mother’s death in 1977, she lived with relatives, in a nursing home, a group home, with a foster family, with a friend in an apartment, and in an apartment supervised by an agency. After a three month search, Edna and her support team found a home that met her specifications — a condominium in the community where she wanted to live and where she can have pets. Edna, who has diabetes, needs assistance monitoring her blood sugar levels and making meals. Working with her support agency, Edna hired her neighbors who live in the same complex to come over a few times a day to help her out.

Norman’s love of people is evident in his smile and animated gestures, even though he does not communicate with words. Norman grew up on his family's New Hampshire farm. He was moved to the Laconia State School when he was thirty after his mother had a heart attack. Norman was one of the last people to leave, when the institution closed in 1991, returning to his community to live in an agency-managed basement apartment. Norman’s support team wanted Norman to have more space and more control over his home, and nominated him to participate in the Home of Your Own demonstration project in New Hampshire. After looking at many houses and making an unsuccessful bid for one, Norman and his team finally found a comfortable ranch with a sunny bay window looking out on a quiet residential street, fifteen minutes from the nursing home where his mother now lives, making it easier for them to spend time together. Norman’s brother, who serves as his guardian sees what home ownership has meant to him, "You can see it in his face ... He is very content."

What does the phrase "Home of Your Own" mean?

A “home of your own” means it is your home to choose and control. You

• select your own apartment, condominium, duplex or single-family home.
• participate in obtaining financing
• sign the lease or deed.
• will be the one making the long term commitment to pay the rent or make a monthly mortgage payment to a bank.

In a home of your own, you
• choose whether to live alone or with house mates
• decide who will share your house with you
• choose the people who provide personalized support services.

What is being done to make it possible for people with disabilities to have their own homes?

In September 1993, the National Home of Your Own Alliance was created as a national information and technical assistance center on home ownership and control. The Alliance operates a national clearinghouse where individuals or groups can call to get information about home ownership and control for people with disabilities. The Alliance is funded by the U.S. Administration on Developmental Disabilities through a cooperative agreement with the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire.

Since the idea of home ownership and control for people with disabilities is new, your family and friends, guardians, support agency and staff may not know that this is an optionfor you. They might not have considered it because currently a number of barriers keep people with disabilities from owning and controlling their homes:

• Banks want what is called a “down payment.” They want you to put a certain amount of your own money toward the purchase of a home. Landlords typically want first and last month’s rent as a deposit before they will lease a place to a tenant. Because of resource limits imposed by SSI and Medicaid, you may not be allowed to save enough money for a down payment or a deposit without losing your benefits.

• Banks want you to make your mortgage payments with income from employment. You may be unable to find work for pay, or may have a job that does not pay enough for a mortgage payment.

• Banks or landlords want a credit history to show that you have paid your bills on time in the past. If you have lived with your family, or in foster care, group homes, or nursing homes, the bills were probably in someone else’s name, therefore you would not have any credit history.

• Banks and landlords may think that because you need support services, you cannot legally enter into a financial agreement. Because of a legal determination, you need to have a guardian sign papers for you, but this should not affect your ability to enter into a lease or a mortgage.

The purpose of the Alliance is to help people overcome these barriers. Federal and state organizations that work with people with developmental disabilities have made home ownership and control a high priority. Although we cannot help you directly in purchasing a home of your own, the Alliance can provide information and guidance about who you should talk to and how you can get help in your area. Through its Information and Referral Clearinghouse, the Alliance will distribute information about person-owned and controlled housing and successful programs and practices that can help people own and control their homes. We can also offer advice for housing design issues through our close collaboration with the Center for Accessible Housing. You may call the Alliance free from anywhere in the United States or Canada on our toll-free Information and Referral telephone line. The number is 1-800-220-8770. Over time we will produce publications concerning home ownership opportunities which will be available through our clearinghouse. We will also increase our staff of technical experts who will be able to help you with questions about financial assistance, community supports, and legal issues.

Each year several states are selected to receive technical assistance from the Alliance. This technical assistance includes helping the state to develop an initiative on home ownership and control. A committee, called a steering committee, will be set up in each state that receives technical assistance from the Alliance. The steering committee will include people with disabilities, support agencies and groups who work on affordable housing. State steering committees make a commitment to work with a certain number of individuals (usually between 10 and 50) to own or control their own homes by the end of three years. Many states call this a demonstration project.

If you live in one of the selected technical assistance states, and receive supports and benefits in these states, you may be able to participate in one of these demonstration projects. As of this year, the eight states selected to work with the Alliance are Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, and Wisconsin. If you live in one of these states, you may call the Alliance to obtain contact names for your state.

What can you do to help your state get involved with the Alliance?

You can help by

• talking to people in your state including government officials, service providers, financing agencies, and individuals about the need for home ownership and control for people with disabilities.
• referring these people to the Alliance’s Information & Referral Clearinghouse at 1-800-220-8770
• encouraging your state to apply to become a technical assistance state.

If you are interested in receiving information about how to apply to become a technical assistance state, call our toll-free number 1-800-220-8770.

Everyone, including people with disabilities, should have the chance to live in a home they own or control. The poet Maya Angelou said, “The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”