Housing Access Team Helps Valerie Find a New Home

Our Housing Access Program

Looking for housing can be overwhelming. With a disability, the barriers to housing get even higher.

That’s why we started our Housing Access Program. We work with people with disabilities and their families to overcome those barriers. The Housing Access team provides one-on-one support for people looking to rent their own home.

The people served by the Housing Access Program represent a wide array of housing needs. We work with people who want to move out of the home of their parent or parents. We assist people whose current home doesn’t meet their needs. We support people who experience housing insecurity and who are unhoused. We also provide advocacy and education on affordable housing, accessibility, and inclusion.

From July to October 2025, the team helped 38 people secure and move into affordable housing. In the same period, we educated 635 people on what it means for housing to be inclusive. In addition, we provided individual advocacy support to 64 people and offered tenancy sustaining services to 16 people.

Here’s a recent success story that illustrates how we help match a person to an affordable home that meets their needs.

Valerie Needed a New Home

In mid-August, our Housing Access team started working with Valerie. She had a notice to vacate from her current apartment and needed to move as quickly as possible. Valerie is a participant of the Housing Choice Voucher program, so her income was not an obstacle in finding a new property that would meet all of her housing needs.

First, we assisted her with filling out the paperwork for transferring her voucher to a new unit. The transfer request was approved at the start of September. Then, we worked with Valerie to identify apartments in her neighborhood that matched her needs and preferences. She was able to tour several units on the same day.

Valerie fell in love with one of the places she saw. We assisted her with completing and submitting the application. She was approved for the unit!

All that remained was an inspection that would allow her to use her Housing Choice Voucher. While waiting for the inspection, we coordinated with another agency to ensure Valerie’s security deposit was paid. With everything else in order, word arrived that the apartment passed the inspection with flying colors.

Valerie was able to move into her new home on October 1. She quickly got settled in with her belongings and her dog Zi. She told us she loves her new home and is enjoying learning how to use her new high-tech appliances.

Welcome home, Valerie!