This week marks the beginning of National Direct Support Professional Week – a week where we celebrate the hard work, commitment and dedication of The Arc Central Chesapeake Region’s over 275 Direct Support Professionals (DSPs). DSPs are critical to the life experience for people with intellectual and development disabilities. They support people to access the community, employment, as well as to live in the community and fulfill the vision each person has for himself or herself.

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In April, community leaders and members of Arundel Community Development Services Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to creating affordable housing opportunities and improving the lives of low-income individuals through community development, joined in opening the doors of a new affordable and accessible home in Millersville.

This five-bedroom dream home is complete with Americans with Disabilities Act features for accessibility. Its completion signifies a milestone in creating independent housing for our community of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or I/DD, who qualify for Section 8 housing.

This multiyear vision was completed in March. Four bedrooms are on the main level, with two ADA bathrooms and a fully accessible kitchen with an ADA ramp off the back of the home.

The home also includes an in-law suite in the basement, with one bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. This allows for a live-in caregiver to support those living in the house.

Many organizations committed to people with I/DD are eager to replicate the achievements of the Millersville ADA home across Anne Arundel County and on the Eastern Shore. But organizations that want to create affordable and accessible housing face the challenge’s of today’s home-seller’s market.

Competitive bids send asking prices skyrocketing. This favors the sellers and creates a huge disadvantage for organizations with set budgets for purchasing and renovating homes to be accessible for people with disabilities.

Many people with I/DD qualify for Section 8 vouchers, enabling them to afford safe and accessible housing in the private market. But access to these vouchers is limited.

According to the Housing Commission of Anne Arundel County, nearly 500 families with disabilities are on the waiting list for housing vouchers. That doesn’t include many other individuals and families that wish to be on the waiting list. It has been closed to new applicants since 2014, and there’s no indication it will open within the next year.

Those who do have a voucher are often unable to find a home that meets their needs based on their mobility. Data from the HCAAC also identifies more than 2,000 families with disabilities and housing needs. These families say that accessibility is their most pressing need, outranking location, which in turn places higher than affordability.

Supply and quality have the same intermediate ranking as location. That’s no surprise, as the demand for affordable and accessible homes will only continue to increase, especially as people with disabilities live longer due to advances in health care and other support services.

The Section 8 crisis impacts the nation as whole. We don’t have a solution to the larger issue, but we can make strides right here in our community. Creating increased access to more accessible and affordable homes would allow people with I/DD — our neighbors — the opportunity to own or live independently, in homes that suit their needs.

Perhaps if our business community, especially those in real estate, worked in unison with organizations that serve people with I/DD in Anne Arundel County and on the Eastern Shore, we can together identify a localized solution that would both benefit the sellers and create more affordable and accessible living opportunities.

By Jonathon Rondeau, CEO of The Arc Central Chesapeake Region.

This article originally appeared in The Capital Gazette on May 12, 2018. It can be accessed here.

The Arc Central Chesapeake Region has been hosting a golf tournament for 20 years now and this year’s was simply the best! On May 7th, our community came together to play some golf and, more importantly, raise some money for children and adults with developmental disabilities. This year our friends helped to raise $50,000 – that’s 35% more than last year! Which means that more people will be able to live, work, play, and THRIVE in the community. Please consider joining us May 6, 2019, for the 21st Annual Golf Tournament!

To view photos from the tournament, please click here.

We are always working to improve your experience. If you attended the Golf Tournament, please consider taking this short survey and let us know how we did!

We at The Arc Central Chesapeake Region, are committed to providing people with intellectual and development disabilities (I/DD) the opportunity to gain independence. We are pleased to share that we opened the doors to our first completed affordable and accessible home in Millersville.  

Located at 8319 N. Veterans Highway, Millersville, MD, The Arc’s Millersville home features 5 bedrooms—4 bedrooms on the main level with 2 ADA bathrooms and a fully accessible kitchen with an ADA ramp off the back of the home. Additionally, the home includes an in-law suite in the basement, which has 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom, a kitchen and living room. Construction began mid-June 2017 and the home was completed in March 2018. The completion of The Arc’s Millersville home marks a milestone in the organization’s goal of developing statewide opportunities for independent housing for people with I/DD.

“We hope the Millersville home will help the community see the value and need for us to create many more ADA accessible and affordable homes that allow people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in our community the opportunity to own or live independently, in a home that suits their needs,” said CEO of The Arc Central Chesapeake Region, Jonathon Rondeau.

The Arc Central Chesapeake Region and its Chesapeake Neighbors subsidiary work with housing specialists throughout Maryland to find homes, assist in securing funding and provide home-ownership training. With the help of Arundel Community Development Services, Inc. (ACDS), a nonprofit organization committed to creating affordable housing opportunities and improving the lives of low-income individuals through community development, the Millersville home was designed to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines for accessibility.

“The Arc, along with the support of ACDS, are in a position to replicate the achievements of the Millersville home across the Anne Arundel County and Eastern Shore,” said Rondeau. “However, similar to first-time home buyers, we too are being faced with the challenges of ‘the seller’s market’ of skyrocketing pricing and competitive purchase bids. We would like to rally the business community, especially those in real estate, to help us navigate a solution that would benefit both the seller and our goal of creating more affordable and accessible living opportunities for people with intellectual and development disabilities who want to live independently.”

“They call me Nonni,” she said, gazing fondly at the two boys playing in the living room. “And sometimes they call me mommy because really they are like my fourth and fifth children.”

Sonya is a single mother, raising her two grandsons, Rylee, 5, and Aiden, 3. She has had custody of both boys for the majority of their young lives. Both boys have developmental and behavioral challenges as a result of the choices their birth mother made while pregnant. Of the two, Aiden’s complications are more severe. “We still deal with outbursts from him that can be quite dramatic, and damaging,” said Sonya. At one point, Aiden’s tantrums took a self-destructive turn. “He started bashing his head, biting himself, bruising himself. He would find a corner of the bed, the floor, anything. He went over the top in a second, and he just didn’t know how to bring himself out of it.”Continue reading

SEVERN, MD (Oct. 5, 2017) – The Arc Central Chesapeake Region (The Arc), a nonprofit committed to providing individuals with developmental disabilities the opportunity to gain independence, live their dreams, and pursue happiness, officially breaks ground on the construction of its new headquarters and community outreach center.Continue reading

In July 2014, The Arc Central Chesapeake Region launched an employment initiative in partnership with the United States Naval Academy.  Kelly Adams joined the program as an intern to develop workplace skills with the goal of successful employment in her community, ultimately earning a job at the Naval Academy.

Kelly was embraced by her USNA colleagues from the moment she started. “The opportunities she has been given by the Naval Academy have helped to develop her self-confidence and communication skills, and provided her with an overall sense of belonging to a community,” said former program manager, Julie Humble.

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This week, we are celebrating Direct Support Professional week to honor the hundreds of frontline staff across our programs that make a difference in the lives of those we serve. Together you are creating equity and opportunity so people with disabilities have access to live, work and play as included members of their community.

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Looking at the astronaut figurine on the window sill, you would think Danny ordered it from one of the collector’s catalogs on his desk. “It’s funny that,” he said.  “I went to buy it, and they told me they didn’t have it.  I was like, oh man.  So I made it.”

That’s how many of his masterpieces are born. “I just see it, and then I build it,” he said shrugging. “I get a lot of my ideas from pictures. Sometimes in catalogs, or from books.” He points to the locomotive catalog and the partially completed steam engine on his desk. “I want to make a hundred trains. That’s one of my goals. Just because I can.”Continue reading