The US housing market crisis and rampant foreclosures of residential properties is not only affecting typical homeowners. United Spinal Association is supporting people with disabilities that are also being stung by our nation’s recent economic woes, as more and more rental properties, which many rely on, are boarded-up or deteriorate to the point of being uninhabitable.

When owners of rental properties can no longer pay their mortgages, they also typically stop paying for repairs, utilities and other maintenance. The end result is renters living in substandard conditions being forced to abandon their homes and to live on the streets or in shelters. This presents an even bigger obstacle for those with disabilities, who may also require home care assistance, close proximity to accessible transportation and medical services, and other critical needs, jeopardizing their health and potentially their lives.

And it’s not only the lack of available housing–people with disabilities also have difficulty in finding landlords willing to rent to them and make appropriate accommodations to support their needs.

Recent Housing Statistics

• The 2008 Annual Homeless Assessment Report issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development shows that among adults, 17.7 percent of the U.S. population had a disability whereas an estimated 42.8 percent of sheltered homeless adults had a disability.
• RealtyTrac reports that foreclosures in the US increased by 81 percent in 2008 over filings in 2007, and 225 percent over filings in 2006.
• The National Income Housing Coalition reports that renter households (36 million) make up one-third of US households.

There is, however, hope on the horizon. The federal government’s U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has authorized a new program called the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) to distribute funds to every state and territory and over 250 local communities to increase housing options for people with disabilities, as well as people who are homeless or have special needs. The funds will be utilized to renovate and rehabilitate foreclosed and abandoned properties and support a community-wide response to neighborhoods significantly impacted by this crisis.

United Spinal Association is supporting NSP initiatives through its participation in The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task Force, which advocates on behalf of people with disabilities that are facing housing issues. The task force is actively involved in developing strategies to create permanent supportive housing by working with NSP grantees.

The welcoming news is that although grantees create their own programs and funding priorities, they must use at least 25 percent of the funds appropriated for the purchase and redevelopment of abandoned or foreclosed homes or residential properties that will be used to house individuals or families whose incomes do not exceed 50 percent of the area median income. This is an important regulation because many within the disability community live below the median income.

Permanent Supportive Housing
The challenge of creating permanent supportive housing for people with disabilities from the available single family homes is that it is typically difficult to maintain the one family per household standard. A majority of service providers rely on the “shared housing” model to cover the high costs of single family homes, which translates into more reasonable rent levels for the home’s occupants who may generate little income. This goes against the permanent supportive housing model, which emphasizes consumer choice and community integration––two values most renters with disabilities desire rather than living in a “group home” setting. This is an ongoing dilemma, and one in which the CCD Housing Taskforce is attempting to address.

For permanent supportive housing to be successfully integrated into communities, two or three key funding components listed below must be met:

1. Capital Funding
2. Rental or Operating Subsidies
3. Supportive Services

The United Spinal and CCD Housing Taskforce believes that by combining available housing units in NSP-funded projects with some form of operating or rental subsidy, along with access to flexible services for those being served in the units, will help make the inclusion of permanent supportive housing units a successful component of a jurisdiction’s use of their NSP resources.

As members and advocates of the disability community, United Spinal urges you to learn how NSP funds will be spent in your local area.

For more information on how NSP funds are distributed and how you can get involved, please visit .

To find out what agencies received NSP funding in your state or community, as well as a contact listing of NSP grantees, click here.

Tom Scott
Editor
United Spinal Association