Resources: A Home of My Own
The National Home of Your Own Alliance* was developed to promote opportunities for people with disabilities to own and control their homes. This does not include three, four, or five people purchasing a home together; an individual living in a home owned by another person or family who is considered the "home provider"; and two people who are not in a long term committed relationship that purchase a home together.
Housing Cooperatives. Another way that people have developed homes of their own, along with the support of neighbors, is through housing cooperatives.
Co-ops offer a community-focused housing model centered on its residents, involving them throughout the design phase, the construction period, and after occupancy in the management process. Families that need affordable housing can find attractive and reasonably-priced options… People with disabilities often find an informal, unpaid support network and accessible housing
For instance, Co-op Initiatives, Inc. (Hartford CT) worked with people with disabilities to create homes of their own as alternatives to institutional and other settings. Their housing models offered a wide range of options to people with disabilities, including homeownership, affordable rental housing and limited equity cooperatives.
*This project represents past work of the UNH Institute on Disability and is no longer active.