`Making Homes Work' improves accessibility for disabled adults

The Bay Area Housing Corporation received a matching grant from Santa Clara County to support its Making Homes Work program.

The Los Gatos-based program helps families modify their homes by installing ramps, remodeling bathrooms or improving wheelchair access through hallways and doors, which enables people with disabilities to stay in their homes rather than moving to specialized housing.

“We recognize that people with (intellectual and developmental disabilities) have few housing options,” said Kris Mccann, executive director of Bay Area Housing Corporation. “The cost of housing in Santa Clara County for the size of a home required for a specialized licensed home averages $2.4 million. Once the costs of rehabilitation of the home and long-term maintenance are added, the expense for opening a new specialized residential home becomes prohibitive.”

Approximately 80% of Santa Clara County residents who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) live in their family homes. The county's grant will help more of them age in their homes as their needs and abilities change.

The program helps secure approvals, gather and evaluate construction estimates, formalize the contract and complete the work.

“Making Homes Work removes housing barriers, literally and figuratively, for individuals in our I/DD community by allowing them to stay in the home they may have grown up in, and near their community of support,” said County Supervisor Joe Simitian in a press release. “By making necessary modifications to a family home, families and caregivers can rest easier about their loved one's future housing situation.”

The program also helps families who cannot pay for these modifications through the Una Casa Mas Fund. The Bay Area Housing Corporation raised $160,000 for the Una Casa Mas Fund over the past two years.

The county's grant funds will be limited to the needsbased program and requires a one to one match, resulting in $500,000 in needsbased funding being made available and a minimum of 50 people with disabilities in Santa Clara County receiving funds to make necessary accessibility modifications in their homes.