The Mission of the Foundation for Inclusive Living is to provide stable, inclusive, low-income housing for adults with intellectual disabilities.
We are located in Southern California and low income housing is a unicorn. Many adults with intellectual disabilities have received HUD vouchers. They pay 30% of of their income for rent and HUD subsidizes the rest. Many of the apartments that have had 30 year contracts with HUD are expiring and they are not honoring the lower rent rates for people with the vouchers to continue to live in the apartments.
The Goal
Our goal is to purchase condominiums near shopping centers that have restaurants, and a bowling alley or movie theater within walking distance.
We want to purchase 10 condos in larger complexes —not next door to each other—so the residents can be included in the community but still have friends they can walk over to their houses to socialize and walk together to restaurants, movies or bowling.
We will be providing the significant down-payments needed to bring the mortgage payments below the HUD maximum monthly rental payment amount—leaving a cushion for association fees and some to put aside each month for future painting, flooring replacements and appliance replacements and other repairs and upkeep.
Funding Sources
The Company EssentialsEasy was created to fund the Foundation for Inclusive Living. Products are being designed to sell on Amazon with the goal of donating the money to this non-profit. Additionally, grants will be applied for and fund-raisers will be held. Here’s a link to the blog explaining how this came about, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention—or is it Mother is the Necessity of Invention?”
How Will the Money Be Used?
In California the property values are extremely expensive. So the down-payments to get the mortgage payment to a reasonable amount will need to be in the ballpark of 100-$150k. Then the mortgage, taxes, insurance and association fees will be under the maximums HUD allows for rent and leave a few hundred each month to go into savings accounts for repairs and replacing appliances, hot water heaters, flooring, etc. Our state Regional Centers provide the Supported Living Staff, so we simply need a Director and down-payments to get started. We would do the necessary paperwork to make them section 8 rental units. The non-profit’s by-laws will state that the condos can never be sold—unless another condo is provided for the resident living there.
We have a realtor who will do the transactions and not charge commission and we have a mortgage broker who has assured us he will fund the mortgages.
National Plans
Once we have completed the first ten resident’s move-in’s we will make available the Standard Operating Procedures to anyone that would like to replicate this model. It is too early to tell if we would be able to expand the non-profit to extend outside of California, but the possibility exists.
501c3 Status
We are currently investigating the proper formation of the non-profit status. It is possible we will operate under the umbrella of an existing non-profit agency.
For More Information contact Sandra McElwee at [email protected]
Helpful Links for People with Disabilities who want to live independently.:
Types of Mortgages: Which One Is the Right One?
Ready to Buy a Home? 6 Simple Steps to Save for the Down Payment
Housing for People with Disabilities
Ultimate Guide to Home Remodeling for People with Disabilities
Grants for Home Modification: 16 Resources for Homeowners with Disabilities
Everything You Need to Know About Disability Home Loan Grants
Renters’ Rights and Housing Assistance for People with Disabilities