BALANCE INCENTIVE PROGRAM

1. BALANCE INCENTIVE PROGRAM ACCESSIBLE HOUSING Independent Living of Niagara County

2. HOUSING SPECIALISTS We will help you… • NAVIGATE, • ADVOCATE & • SECURE HOUSING

3. Housing Issues for People with Disabilities Being part of the community and living as independently as possible are among the most important values and goals shared by people with disabilities, their families, and advocates. A home of one’s own – either rented or owned – is the cornerstone of independence for people with disabilities. However, across the U.S. people with disabilities face a severe housing crisis.

4. Accessibility • An accessible home offers specific features or technologies to accommodate people with disabilities, such as lowered kitchen counters and sinks, roll-under stoves, widened doorways, wheel-in showers and raised electrical outlets. For people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices, finding housing with even basic accessibility features (e.g. an entrance with no steps) ranges from daunting to impossible. • Housing Discrimination • People with disabilities all too often face discrimination when seeking housing. In fact, complaints by people with disabilities often make up the majority of discrimination complaints received by HUD’s Fair Housing Enforcement Office. Multiple federal laws prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in public and privately funded housing.

5. NAVIGATE Housing Specialists will assist in the following ways: • Locate accessible housing for our consumers that are ready to be independent and live in the area they would like to reside. • Speak with area developers to find out how many of the units they will be constructing will actually be accessible. • Speak with landlords (private housing) regarding their accommodations for individuals that have developmental disabilities.

6. As Housing Specialists, we are available to help you: • Get an Occupational Therapist to do an assessment of a potential apartment and get modifications completed. • Make landlords aware of tenant rights to make environmental modifications to property. • Help tenants advocate for themselves if landlord is not making needed repairs. • Provide a checklist of things to check before moving in. • Example: locks, windows. • Assist with early termination of lease due to health concerns or domestic violence. ADVOCATE

7. Advocate - Know Your Legal Rights The Fair Housing Act,  prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, and national origin. Its coverage includes private housing, housing that receives federal financial assistance, and state and local government housing. Owners of housing facilities are required to make reasonable exceptions in their policies for tenants with disabilities (for example, a "no pets" policy for persons who use service animals). Landlords must also allow tenants with disabilities to make reasonable access-related modifications to their private living space, as well as to common use spaces (though landlords are not required to pay for the changes). The Act further requires that new multifamily housing with four or more units be designed and built to allow access for persons with disabilities. This includes accessible common use areas, doors that are wide enough for wheelchairs, kitchens and bathrooms that allow a person using a wheelchair to maneuver, and other adaptable features within the units.

8. Advocacy Tenant Rights • Warranty of Habitability • Tenants have the right to a livable, safe and sanitary apartment. Public areas of the building are also covered. Examples of not fulfilling this are failure to provide heat or hot water on a consistent basis or the failure to rid an apartment of an insect infestation. If the landlord fails to meet these conditions the tenant can sue for a rent reduction. • Tenants may make necessary repairs and deduct reasonable repair costs from the rent. Keep receipts! • If an apartment becomes uninhabitable due to fire or other damage, not caused by the tenant, the tenant may leave the property and cancel the lease. The landlord is responsible for to refund the security deposit. • Landlords are responsible to provide smoke detectors within ten feet of each room used for sleeping. • Heat must be supplied from October 1 through May 31 to tenants in multiple dwellings. • Tenants have the legal right to form, join, and participate in tenant organizations for the purpose for the purpose of protecting their rights. These organizations have the right to meet, at no cost, in any social room in the building.

9. FAIR HOUSING-SECURE Under state and federal law, it is UNLAWFUL to: • Deny the right to see, rent, or purchase housing due to your disability. • Deny reasonable accommodations to policies and practices in order to have the free enjoyment of your housing. • Deny the right to modify your unit to meet disability-related needs (they may require that the unit be restored to pre-rental condition). • Deny readily achievable alterations to public areas for disability-related.

10. FAIR HOUSING-SECURE Under state and federal law, it is unlawful to: • Charge you any additional fees or surcharges due to your disability (including pet fees for service animals). Additional rights may be available in individual communities, including preventing “Source of Payment” Discrimination.

11. List of Resources • Genesee County • Office for the Aging- (585) 343-1611 • Homes & Community Renewal- (585) 658-4860 • People Inc.- (716) 817-9090 • Pathstone- (585) 343-3861 • Dept. of Social Services- (585) 344-2580 • Ray Cianfrini, Legislature Chair- (585) 344-2550 Ext. 2202 • Jay Gsell, County Manager- (585) 343-2550 ext. 220 • Housing Opportunities Made Easy (HOME)- (716) 854-1400 • Sandy Konfederath, ARC- (585) 343-1123 • Orleans County • Pathstone- (585) 283-5012 • Dept. of Social Services- (585) 589-7000 • Office for the Aging- (585) 589-3191 • ARC- (585) 589-0305 • David Callard, Legislature Chair- (585) 589-7053

12. Yates County • Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation- (585) 461-4263 • Keuka Housing Council- (315) 536-8707 • ARC- (315) 536-7447 • Dept. of Social Services- (315) 536-5183 • Office for the Aging- (315) 536-5516 • Dr. Timothy Dennis, Legislature Chair- (315) 536-5150 • Wyoming County • A.D. Berwanger, Legislature Chair- (585) 786-8800 • ARC (Livingston)- (585) 237-0397 • Dept. of Social Services- (585) 786-8900 • Community Action Section 8- (585) 237-2600 • Office for the Aging- (585) 786-8833 • Erie County • Buffalo Housing Authority- (716) 878-2433 • ARC- (716) 892-4240 • Office for the Aging- (716) 858-8526 • John Mills, Legislature Chair- (716) 858-8850 • Belmont Housing Resources- (716) 884-7791 • Dept. of Social Services- (716) 858-8000

13. Niagara County • Office for the Aging- (716) 438-4020 • Dept. of Social Services- (716) 278-8400) • William Ross, Legislature Chair- (716) 439-7000 • Lockport Housing Authority- (716) 434-0001

14. Resources Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program. Section 811 is the only HUD program dedicated to producing affordable, accessible housing for non-elderly, very low-income people with significant disabilities. Section 811 housing is typically integrated into larger affordable housing apartment buildings. Tenants pay 30 percent of their adjusted income for rent which ensures affordability for people who receive SSI. Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers. HUD's Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program helps very low-income families, the elderly, and people with disabilities afford rental housing in the private market. Tenants must be low-income, and typically pay 30 percent of their income for rent. Due to limited funding and high need, most parts of the country have long waiting lists for Section 8 vouchers. Public Housing. Public housing comes in all sizes and types, from scattered single family houses to high-rise apartments. Tenants must be low-income, and typically pay 30 percent of their income for rent. Like Section 8 vouchers, availability is limited and applicants may be on waiting lists for years. National Housing Trust Fund. The National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) is a new, dedicated fund that will provide grants to states to build, preserve, and rehabilitate housing for people with the lowest incomes. The NHTF was established by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-289), but has not yet been funded.