11/14/18 PRESS ALERT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information:
Dawn Russell (303) 884-1471
Josh Winkler (720) 280-1803
Mike Oxford (785) 224-3865
WHO: National ADAPT
WHAT: ADAPT Demands More Housing Support from Feds
WHERE: Denver, Colorado
WHEN: Wednesday, November 14th, 2018; Happening NOW
ADAPT Demands That HUD Address Housing Problems That Result in the Unwanted Institutionalization of Disabled Americans
11/14/18 Denver, CO — Activists from the grassroots disability rights organization ADAPT are at the offices of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at its Denver Regional Office. They are demanding that HUD address the housing crisis facing Disabled Americans that results in unwanted institutionalization.
ADAPT is demanding that HUD fund an additional round of Section 811 Housing Choice Vouchers. The 811 or “Mainstream” Voucher subsidizes rental housing for very low and extremely low income disabled people who are in nursing facilities or are at risk of going to nursing facilities.
“There’s simply not enough funding to meet the need, nationally,” said Ami Hyten, an organizer with Kansas ADAPT. “There are thousands of elderly and disabled people across the country stuck in nursing facilities because there are not enough housing vouchers.”
ADAPTers visited the Colorado Division of Housing on Tuesday to demand adequate funding for the State’s Community Choice Transition Vouchers program. “This is a national problem and today, we are looking beyond Colorado and demanding actions that will improve the lives of Disabled Americans across the country,” said Daniese McMullin-Powell, of Delaware ADAPT.
ADAPT is also demanding measures that will make it easier to improve their local programs, including pre-approved policies that housing authorities can adopt, and guidance on reasonable accommodations that allow disabled people to use the voucher program more effectively.
“Current policies are too little, too late for every disabled person rotting in an institution,” said Nancy Salandra of Philly ADAPT. “We’re demanding that HUD be part of the solution instead of being the problem.”
ADAPT’s history, the issues we are fighting for, and our activities can be found at www.adapt.org, the National ADAPT Facebook page, and on Twitter under the hashtag #ADAPTandRESIST.
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