Laura
11-15-2007, 08:06 AM
This registry is listed in disablednyc.com's directory, and I have visited their website. -Laura
http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-housing1114,0,1492454,full.story
Website assists disabled with housing
By Heather Appel | Special to amNewYork
November 14, 2007
When Michael Costello was a carpenter, he and his crew could renovate a Manhattan apartment in two to three weeks. But when a neuromuscular disease forced him to start using a wheelchair, he couldn't find an accessible apartment, renovated or not, anywhere in town.
Costello, 55, ended up in a nursing home, where he spent 2 1/2 years. After much fighting and frustration, he eventually found a room in Brooklyn to call home. "It was costing the state $90,000 a year to keep me in a nursing home," Costello said. "I felt angry, frustrated, and very annoyed because I just wanted to do my own thing, go back to school and get back into society again."
A new online registry of accessible apartments may provide relief to people in Costello's situation. The Center for the Independence of the Disabled developed the registry after receiving as many as 200 calls a month from people seeking housing assistance, according to executive director Susan Dooha.
Nonprofit organizations can provide lists of buildings with available apartments, but those vacancies often disappear right away in this competitive market.
The new Web site, http://www.nysaccessiblehousing.org , allows people to do a housing search based on location, income requirements and accessible features such as elevators or ground floor apartments.
The listing started with public housing and new buildings, which by law have to be "adaptable." The group solicited building information from advocates throughout the state to roll out the improved Web site this summer. The database lists about 4,200 developments statewide.
The new site won't necessarily lead right to an apartment, said Michael Fagan, director of Web site project, "but it will cut their work in half."
The Mayor's Office for People With Disabilities did not have information on the number of accessible units available in the city. A spokesperson said the office received 7,850 calls related to housing and disabilities in 2006, but she did not have details on how many of those calls were from people seeking accessible housing.
"The city has a number of robust programs that are capturing some of the housing needs of people with disabilities," said Commissioner Matthew Sapolin.
But disability advocates have criticized a mayoral affordable housing plan, saying that many people with disabilities don't meet the income requirements for the new housing being built through tax credits and subsidies, making the set-asides ineffective.
http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-housing1114,0,1492454,full.story
Website assists disabled with housing
By Heather Appel | Special to amNewYork
November 14, 2007
When Michael Costello was a carpenter, he and his crew could renovate a Manhattan apartment in two to three weeks. But when a neuromuscular disease forced him to start using a wheelchair, he couldn't find an accessible apartment, renovated or not, anywhere in town.
Costello, 55, ended up in a nursing home, where he spent 2 1/2 years. After much fighting and frustration, he eventually found a room in Brooklyn to call home. "It was costing the state $90,000 a year to keep me in a nursing home," Costello said. "I felt angry, frustrated, and very annoyed because I just wanted to do my own thing, go back to school and get back into society again."
A new online registry of accessible apartments may provide relief to people in Costello's situation. The Center for the Independence of the Disabled developed the registry after receiving as many as 200 calls a month from people seeking housing assistance, according to executive director Susan Dooha.
Nonprofit organizations can provide lists of buildings with available apartments, but those vacancies often disappear right away in this competitive market.
The new Web site, http://www.nysaccessiblehousing.org , allows people to do a housing search based on location, income requirements and accessible features such as elevators or ground floor apartments.
The listing started with public housing and new buildings, which by law have to be "adaptable." The group solicited building information from advocates throughout the state to roll out the improved Web site this summer. The database lists about 4,200 developments statewide.
The new site won't necessarily lead right to an apartment, said Michael Fagan, director of Web site project, "but it will cut their work in half."
The Mayor's Office for People With Disabilities did not have information on the number of accessible units available in the city. A spokesperson said the office received 7,850 calls related to housing and disabilities in 2006, but she did not have details on how many of those calls were from people seeking accessible housing.
"The city has a number of robust programs that are capturing some of the housing needs of people with disabilities," said Commissioner Matthew Sapolin.
But disability advocates have criticized a mayoral affordable housing plan, saying that many people with disabilities don't meet the income requirements for the new housing being built through tax credits and subsidies, making the set-asides ineffective.