Materials and Attachments

“How To Be A Responsible Tenant

For Consumers, Parents and Advocates Of Persons

With Mental Retardation and Other Developmental Disabilities”

 

This publication may be viewed or downloaded from the following web page:

 

www.arcofaa.org/openingdoors
 

 

The Maryland Opening Doors  - A Home of Your Own Project

An Overview

 

 

The Maryland Opening Doors - A Home of Your Own Project provides educational workshops to assist individuals with developmental disabilities and their housing mentors explore the following areas:

 

·                      understanding the processes involved in leasing an apartment and becoming a home owner.

·                      decision-making regarding housing options.

·                      goal setting and

·                      the development and execution of an action plan.

 

The Project fosters “consumer-controlled housing” as an additional option to living with one’s family or living in housing sponsored by a service provider agency.

 

The Project provides a series of workshops, which include sessions for individuals with developmental disabilities, their housing mentors and a session for housing professionals.

 

In an effort to optimize the opportunities for home ownership and direct rentals by persons with disabilities, the Project Director has also advocated for changes in governmental and private funding systems.  Additional efforts have included formulating state and federal policy recommendations on needed improvements in housing public policy.

 

What Does Self-Determination In Housing Mean?

 

Freedom

 

Self-determination in housing means the freedom to make your own decisions about where you want to live, something that most of us take for granted.  For persons with developmental and other disabilities, especially those who may still live with their parents or in a group home, this may mean starting on a new adventure.  It means deciding for yourself things like:

 

·                      What kind of neighborhood do I want to live in?

·                      Do I want to be near people my own age? Do I want to live near families with children?

·                      Do I want to live alone or with someone else?  If I want to live with others, how many roommates do I want?

·                      Do I want to live in an urban, suburban or rural community?

·                      Do I want to live in a single-family home, a townhouse or a condominium?

 

 

Authority (Decision-Making)

 

Authority is a fundamental idea that means having control over the money and other resources you need to support yourself.  This includes:

 

·                      Choosing a bank account.

·                      Choosing a service provider and staff.

·                      Deciding how you spend your time.

 

 

Support

 

This means having access to the kind of help you need to be independent.

 

 

Responsibility

 

With freedom of choice and authority comes the responsibility to be a good citizen.  This includes:

 

·                      Having a job.

·                      Maintaining your property.

·                      Helping your neighbors.

·                      Volunteering in your community.

·                      Participating in neighborhood activities.

·                      Voting in elections.

Housing Mentors:

The Key To Creating The Vision

The Foundation For Achieving The Dream

 

 

Who Decides Where The Individual With A Developmental Disability Will Live?

 

Ultimately, it should be the individual with the developmental disability’s preferences that dictate where he or she will live.  As for all of us, issues of safety, financial resources, access to services and shopping areas will have an  impact what kind of housing is a viable choice for us.

 

It is important that the persons with developmental disabilities be a part of each stage of the process.  Often, we feel that we know what is best for someone who has a developmental disability.  As a result, we want choices based on our own preferences.  However, how would you feel if you had no say in one of the most important areas of your life?

 

 

Who Will Decide What Is the Right Home For The Individual With A Developmental Disability?

 

Have you ever thought of something that you really wanted, something that stirred your imagination and lifted your spirits?  Did you then think about how difficult it might be to get there or how far away you might be from realizing your dream?  Did you stop there?  Or did you decide that it was worth using all of your resources to achieve?   Did you take the first steps toward that beautiful, yet seemingly impossible, dream?

 

If your reach has ever seemed greater than your grasp.....and you decided to move toward your goal anyway.....

 

If you know how to keep your feet on the ground, while your head is in the clouds and your eyes on the prize.....

 

 

Then

 

 

You have what it takes to play one of the most important roles in the world.  You can be a housing mentor!

 

 

 

Are you reading this because someone you know has a developmental disability?  Does he or she have a dream of owning his or her own home?  Do you want to help?  If the answers are yes, then you have already taken the first steps to opening the door to their dream of home ownership.  You are the foundation.  You are the key.  You are a housing mentor.

 

Housing Mentors: The Key To.... p. 2.

 

In this module, you will find the tools you need to help someone with a developmental disability achieve their dream of home ownership.  Plenty of information already exists for first-time home buyers.  Documents published by the Fannie Mae Foundation, and listed in the Publications Section of this publication, are especially helpful.  Most people with developmental disabilities, however, need extra help in understanding how to prepare for home ownership.  Assistance may be needed in the areas of creating and following a budget, establishing credit and applying for a mortgage.  Some people have difficulty reading or they may absorb information at a slower pace.  Some people need visual cues and symbols to understand concepts such as what insurance does or what it means to have a mortgage.  Some workshop participants may need information broken down into very small steps.  Others may need to have information repeated again and again until they get it.  But they will get it.

 

Your role is to be a mirror, a sounding board, a teacher and cheerleader.  You will need patience to go through a process that can take a year, two years or even more.  You will need a commitment to be there, to be a resource even after the dream is achieved, to ensure their success as a home owner.  In addition, you will have to be practical so you can be of assistance in making the dream of home ownership achievable for someone with a developmental disability.

 Your Role As A Housing Mentor

 

 

A Housing Mentor:

 

·                      Directly assists the individual with a disability by providing guidance, support and advocacy.

 

·                      Makes a long-term commitment to help the individual with a developmental disability move through the entire process of buying a house.

 

·                      Helps the individual understand the paths to home ownership so that he or she can create a personal goal of home ownership and make informed decisions regarding housing.

 

·                      Attends workshops and counseling seminars with the person with the developmental disability and reinforces information from the seminars (utilities, budgets, leases, mortgages, etc.).

 

·                      Assists the individual in gathering all necessary personal documentation and explains the processes for obtaining services, bank accounts, utilities, credit and mortgages.  The mentor also assists the person with a disability in filling out the forms needed to obtain these services.

 

·                      Helps the individual access the services he or she needs to live in his or her own home.  The mentor also assists support staff and housing professionals understand the individual’s needs and the kinds of accommodations that may be needed throughout the process.

 

·                      Helps the individual create and follow a budget, as well as establish and maintain credit.

 

·                      Assists the individual making the transition into a home of his or her own and then assists the individual in understanding how to maintain a home.

 

·                      Celebrates the individual’s success!