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Locating affordable and accessible housing can be difficult for individuals with disabilities. If you are a person on a fixed income, just paying rent can be a difficult challenge. If you meet the income guidelines, you might qualify for a rent subsidy through the state or federal government, such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
HUD is known for providing assistance to individuals who are low-income,
homeless, and on the verge of becoming homeless. They also help
individuals create opportunities for homeownership. They have been
very instrumental in improving urban neighborhoods through their
grants and special needs programs. The programs are diverse and
target a specific group of individuals. Some of the programs are
described below:
- Section
Eight Management Assessment Program (SEMAP)
SEMAP
is used to evaluate Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) performance and
administration of the housing choice voucher program (See below).
HUD will annually assign an overall performance rating of “high”,
“standard”, or “troubled.” If the PHAs are
either rated “troubled” or found performing inadequately,
action to correct the problem will be needed. HUD will conduct on-site
reviews to assess the seriousness in order to ensure improvement
in program management.
- Housing
Choice Vouchers
The housing choice voucher program is the federal government's major
program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and
the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the
private market. Eligibility for a housing voucher is determined
by the Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) based on the total annual
gross income and family size and is limited to US citizens and specified
categories of non-citizens who have eligible immigration status.
In general, the family's income may not exceed 50% of the median
income for the county or metropolitan area in which the family chooses
to live. By law, a PHA must provide 75 percent of its vouchers to
applicants whose incomes do not exceed 30 percent of the area median
income. Median income levels are published by HUD and vary by location.
The PHA serving your community can provide you with the income limits
for your area and family size.
Since housing assistance is provided on behalf of the family or
individual, participants are able to find their own housing, including
single-family homes, townhouses and apartments. The participant
is free to choose any housing that meets the requirements of the
program and is not limited to units located in subsidized housing
projects. If you are interested in applying for a voucher, contact
the local PHA. For further assistance, please contact the HUD office
nearest to you.
- Vouchers
for People with Disabilities
There are 3 types of vouchers available to people with disabilities:
Mainstream Vouchers
Mainstream program vouchers enable families who have one member
with a disability to lease affordable private housing of their choice.
Mainstream program vouchers also assist persons with disabilities
who often face difficulties in locating suitable and accessible
housing on the private market.
ELIGIBILITY: A family where one member includes
a person with a disability and is income eligible may receive a
mainstream program voucher. Applicants will be selected from the
PHA's housing choice voucher waiting list.
Designated
Housing Vouchers
Designated housing vouchers enable non-elderly families with a member
who is disabled, who would be eligible for public housing if occupancy
were not restricted to elderly families, to lease safe, decent and
affordable housing. These vouchers also assist families affected
by a Public Housing Agency (PHA) decision to designate their buildings
as "mixed elderly and disabled buildings" but demonstrate
a need for alternative resources for families with a disabled member.
ELIGIBILITY: Non-elderly families where one member
has a disability, is income eligible, and lives in public housing
that has been designated for occupancy, or non-elderly families
where one member has a disability who is on the PHA’s public
housing waiting list are eligible. Families need not be listed on
the PHA’s housing choice voucher waiting list to be offered
and receive a housing choice voucher. Instead, they may be admitted
to the program as a special admission.
Certain Development Vouchers
Certain development vouchers enable non-elderly families to obtain
affordable housing if one member has a disability. This applies
to families who do not currently receive housing assistance in certain
developments where owners establish preferences for, or restrict
occupancy to, elderly families.
ELIGIBILITY: Non-elderly families with a member
with a disability who are on the waiting list of a covered development.
These non-elderly families with a disabled person do not need to
be listed on the PHA’s housing choice voucher waiting list
in order to be offered and receive housing choice voucher rental
assistance. It is sufficient that these families' names are on the
waiting list for a covered development at the time their names are
provided to the PHA by the owner. Eligible participants also include
other non-elderly families with a disabled member residing in the
community who would qualify for a one- or zero-bedroom unit. These
families must apply to the PHA and have their names placed on the
housing choice voucher program waitlist.
- Section 811 & Section 202
The Section
811 program allows persons who are disabled to live as independently
as possible in the community by increasing the supply of rental
housing with the availability of supportive services. The program
also provides project rental assistance which covers the difference
between the HUD-approved operating costs of the project and the
tenants' contribution toward rent. The program is similar to Section
202 - Supportive Housing for the Elderly, which provides capital
advances to finance the construction, rehabilitation or acquisition
of structures providing supportive housing for the elderly.
To obtain more information regarding HUD, you may access their website:
http://www.hud.gov
For a listing of the HUD Field Offices use the following link:
http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/about/field_office.cfm
To locate HUD Multifamily Inventory of Units for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities, please click on the following:
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/mfh/hto/inventorysurvey.cfm
Subsidized Apartment Search:
http://www.hud.gov/apps/section8/index.cfm
(select by state)
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 7th Street S.W.
Washington, DC 20410
202-708-1112
202-708-1455 TTY
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity is an international, ecumenical non-profit
Christian housing ministry dedicated to providing simple, decent
and affordable housing to low income families. Habitat International
headquarters are located in Americus, Georgia. There are currently
more than 1680 affiliates in the United States and 250 Affiliates
in 80 developing countries.
Habitat affiliates build in all 50 U.S. states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each affiliate
is an independent, locally managed organization which coordinates
local construction and selects partner families without regard to
race, religion or ethnic group.
To find a Habitat affiliate near you go to the Habitat for Humanity web site: http://www.habitat.org/cd/local/
Mercy Housing System
Mercy Housing System is a national non-profit organization dedicated
to developing affordable housing for families, seniors, formerly
homeless populations, people with HIV/AIDS and individuals with
chronic mental illnesses and physical impairments. With the help
of public and private funding, Mercy Housing builds or rehabilitates
housing according to community needs. The types of housing they
develop include multi-unit rental apartments and single family homes,
single room occupancy apartments for formerly homeless adults, handicap-accessible
units for individuals with physical impairments and self-help housing
programs for families ready for homeownership.
Mercy housing has a national office located in Denver, Colorado,
as well as divisions in California, Idaho, Midwest, Southeast, and
Southwest. You could look for more details for your location at the following web page: http://www.mercyhousing.org/find_housing.aspx
National Office
Mercy Housing, Inc.
601 East 18th Avenue, Suite 150
Denver, Colorado 80203
303-830-3300
mail@mercyhousing.org
Homepage: http://www.mercyhousing.org
National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)
NLIHC is dedicated to ending America’s affordable housing
crisis. While they are generally paying attention to the housing
problems of all low-income people, they put their greatest emphasis
on the lowest income households that have the most serious housing
problems. “Preservation,” “Production,”
“Public Housing,” “Vouchers,” and “Housing
Plus Services” are the five priority areas that the NLIHC
policy agenda concentrates on, and each area has a corresponding
policy committee to review policy proposals and make recommendations
on.
Although the NLIHC Board of Directors have determined that the primary policy objective of NLIHC is the passage of legislation that provides major new funding for the production of rental housing for extremely low income people, their advocacy work is broken down into 5 general goals:
(1) The general public will have improved knowledge of low-income
housing issues and will increase its support for progressive low
income housing policy;
(2) low income housing will be a priority issue on the federal political
agenda;
(3) there will be a decrease in the loss of federally assisted housing;
(4) there will be an increase in the federal investment in low income
housing; and
(5) more low income people will be engaged in self-advocacy on housing
issues.
1012 Fourteenth Street NW, Suite 610
Washington, D.C. 20005
202-662-1530 TTY
info@nlihc.org
http://www.nlihc.org
Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC)
TAC is a national organization that works on behalf of people with
disabilities or other special needs by providing updated information,
capacity building, and technical expertise to organizations and
policymakers in the areas of affordable housing, mental health,
substance abuse, and human services.
The Housing Center for People with Disabilities is a TAC program of technical assistance, training, and knowledge dissemination on affordable housing issues that are critically important to people with disabilities, their families, housing advocates, and service providers. The four major goals of the Housing Center for People with Disabilities are:
(1) To create a technical assistance program framework to bring
organizations representing different disability populations together
to work collaboratively on community housing strategies;
(2) help the disability community develop a better understanding
of the complexities of an affordable housing delivery system including
all the government housing programs and resources which can benefit
people with disabilities;
(3) facilitate more dialogue and assist in the development of collaborations
and partnerships between the disability community and key stakeholders
in community-based affordable housing (i.e., PHAs, housing coalitions,
non-profit groups, affordable housing advocates, housing counseling
agencies, and private lenders); and
(4) build the capacity of the disability community to effectively
participate in state and local government housing strategic planning
activities, (i.e., the Consolidated Plan and the PHA Plan) and to
critically assess the opportunities and barriers to a significant
expansion of affordable housing for people with disabilities.
The Technical Assistance Collaborative
535 Boylston Street, Suite 1301
Boston, MA 02116
Phone / TTY (617) 266-5657
Fax (617) 266-4343
For housing information:
http://www.tacinc.org/HH/HH.htm
To view publications of the TAC Housing Center, click
on the following:
http://www.tacinc.org/Pubs/pubs.htm
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
LIHEAP is a federally-funded program that helps low income households
pay for heating and/or cooling their homes. In particular, LIHEAP
seeks to make homes energy more affordable for two groups of low
income households that have the highest home energy needs:
* vulnerable households which include frail older individuals, individuals with disabilities, and very young children. These households face serious health risks if they do not have adequate heating or cooling in their homes.
* high energy burden households which include those households with the lowest incomes and highest home energy costs. These households face safety risks in trying to heat or cool their homes if they cannot pay their heating or cooling fuel bills.
The LIHEAP program in your community determines if your household's income qualifies for the program. The LIHEAP program may also require households to meet additional eligibility criteria to receive LIHEAP assistance. Furthermore, the availability of LIHEAP assistance is not guaranteed; oftentimes, most of the Federal LIHEAP funds are spent during the winter.
Your LIHEAP program may be able to offer you one or more of the following types of assistance: (1) bill payment assistance (2) energy crisis assistance (3) weatherization and energy-related home repairs. In order to apply, you need to prepare for the following:
· Recent copies of your utility bills.
· A recent payroll stub or other proof that shows your current
gross income.
· Documentation showing income from Social Security, Unemployment
Insurance, Pension Funds, disability, etc.
· Final Utility Termination Notice (if you've received a
shut-off notice from your energy company).
· Proof of present address (e.g., rent receipt, lease or
deed, property tax bill).
· Proof of total members living in your household (e.g.,
birth certificates, school
records, etc.).
· Social Security cards (or numbers) for all persons living
in your household.
· Proof of U.S. citizenship or permanent residence.
To ask for information or to apply, you can always call the National
Energy Assistance Referral (NEAR) project. NEAR is a free service
providing information on where you can apply for LIHEAP.
866-674-6327
energyassistance@ncat.org
State LIHEAP offices:
http://www.liheap.ncat.org/sp.htm
Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP)
WAP was created to increase energy efficiency and reduce the burden
of energy costs to Americans with low-income, especially households
with elderly residents, people with disabilities, and families with
children. To accomplish these goals, Department of Energy (DOE)
works in partnership with state and local-level weatherization programs
throughout the United States. DOE makes grants to states that in
turn award grants to local agencies, usually community action agencies
or other non-profit or government organizations, to perform the
actual weatherization services.
WAP is exclusively designed for people with low income. Any household
at or below 125 percent of the poverty level is considered "low-income." Eligibility is automatically given to applicants receiving Aid to
Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) or Supplemental Security
Income (SSI).
The Department of Energy (DOE) works directly with the states, the
District of Columbia, and Native American Tribal Governments to
carry out this program. These agencies, in turn, contract with approximately
1,000 local governmental or non-profit agencies to deliver weatherization
services to our low-income clients.
The following link is to Weatherization Assistance Programs. On this page you can link to information assistance programs and administrative contacts for each state.
http://www.eere.energy.gov/weatherization/state_contacts.html
