Disabilities are hurdle
A Brooklyn couple is looking for housing that accommodates both their needs.
Brooklyn residents Eli Finkelstein and Dina Wolf met two years ago at a meet-up event for people with disabilities. Two days after the event, Finkelstein reached out to Wolf. She not only returned his call, but his text as well, he said.
Then, over the summer last year, Finkelstein popped the question, but now the couple is faced with the daunting task of obtaining housing together that accommodates both of their needs, keeps them close to family and allows them to continue to observe their Orthodox Jewish faith, said Finkelstein’s father, Ira Finkelstein.
“It’s a very strong relationship. Nothing that (the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities — OPWDD) does will get us to break up. We’re very close,” Eli Finkelstein said. “We just hope to be married, and we need the supportive environment to be married.”
The couple live in separate supportive housing units in Brooklyn: Eli Finkelstein, 29, at the Hebrew Academy for Special Children (HASC); Wolf, 30, at OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services. But the elder Finkelstein has been unable to secure an appropriate unit at either organization, and has gotten little reassurance that housing will be made available soon.
Ira Finkelstein said he had wanted to secure housing at HASC for the couple since they already have housing for married couples, but the state’s OPWDD will not provide the funds to create a unit for the couple.
“Eli and Dina are being pingponged,” he said. “OPWDD tried to push the agencies to utilize existing housing stock to make it happen. The agencies say given the level of budget cuts that they’ve incurred over the last year and a half, they can’t afford to do that.”
And OPWDD can’t force an agency to reconfigure existing beds, the elder Finkelstein said.
A former mental health professional and social worker, Ira Finkelstein has mobilized to advocate for his son and future daughter-in-law. He has contacted state legislators on the respective houses disability committees; regularly reaches out to contacts at OPWDD, and has explored their legal options.
“I don’t think the agencies are going to do it and OPWDD tells me that we can’t force the agency. Where does that leave Eli and Dina?” he said. “Does that mean they are going to wait through this terrible budget crisis in order to get married? A year, two years, until the effect of the pandemic is over?”
HASC did not return requests for comment for this story. OHEL officials said the elder Finkelstein has not reached out to them regarding a married couple’s placement, but noted that they provide housing and services to nine married couples and work to accommodate those residents who seek that option down the road.
OPWDD officials also would not comment on the couple’s predicament or answer questions from Capitol Insider, but reaffirmed its commitment to people with disabilities.
“Personal relationships are an important part of every person’s life, and OPWDD strives to provide supports in the most appropriate living environment possible based on each person’s specific needs,” the agency said in a statement. “There is a continuum of support options available to individuals and couples with developmental disabilities, depending upon their needs, including self-directing their services, living in an apartment of their own with the right supports in place, or a supportive group home.”
Ira Finkelstein challenged OPWDD’S commitment given his son’s situation: “I’m just trying to end the impasse so Eli ... and Dina can reach their maximum potential, which I thought was OPWDD’S objective with regard to their clients.”
Officials at the Center for Disability Rights, which provides services to seniors and people with disabilities within the framework of an independent living model, said supportive housing often can be difficult to navigate because it comes with strings attached. Housing can be further complicated when couples with disabilities decide to live together, said Greg Beratan, the center’s director for advocacy.
“We have put barriers up. People can lose benefits if they get married, so there are things that actively prevent people from getting married, but there are many disabled people that do anyway,” he said. “Unfortunately, they have to deal with a system that is geared against them.”
It’s the wait on housing that has ground the couple’s progress to a halt, the engaged pair said. Everyone has been told that “they’re working on it.”
“We are looking forward to marriage and our life together,” Dina Wolf said. “We want to push them to move faster because we really wanted to get married around this time, before March, but since we don’t have housing we have to push off the wedding. We just want them to try and get it done as soon as possible so we can have the wedding.”
Ruth Finkelstein, Eli’s mother, as well as Ira Finkelstein described in awe the progress their son has made over the years. People often dismissed Eli Finkelstein’s ability to hold down a job; live on his own, and even get married, she said.
“There’s been enough ‘no’s’ in Eli’s life, but unfortunately I can’t make this a ‘yes,’” she said. “They are so kind and loving to each other. They are best friends. It’s very sad to me that we have to fight this hard for them to have a proper place to live with the supervision they need.”