National Homeownership Month presented an opportunity for HUD's Cincinnati Field Office to join with other involved local partners and host a forum on Homeownership for People with Disabilities. The local training program underscored HUD's support for President Bush's New Freedom Initiative, launched last June to improve opportunities for community integration of people with disabilities.

There are special challenges involved in homeownership for persons with disabilities. At the forum, one panel frankly discussed the disadvantages - and advantages - of homeownership, and how to help individuals and families decide what is the best option for them. Substantial information was provided on resources that can help disabled persons become homeowners, including FHA Mortgage Insurance, Homeownership Vouchers, and downpayment assistance programs.

The forum was targeted at service providers who work with people with disabilities, with a special effort to reach case managers, service coordinators, and vocational rehabilitation counselors. The half-day programs also qualified the participants for professional Continuing Education Units (CEUs). The program was well received, and participants found the information to be timely and relevant to their job responsibilities.

Some of the partners who worked to increase homeownership for people with disabilities were (left) Debbie Greenebaum with Living Arrangements for the Developmentally Disabled; Denise Brooks with the HUD Cincinnati Field Office; and Joanne Brady with the Home Ownership Center. (Right image) A sample of the 50 service professionals and service consumers who took part in the Cincinnati Forum on Homeownership for People with Disabilities.

In addition to HUD, other partners who planned and helped make the forum a success included the Center for Independent Living Options, Living Arrangements for the Developmentally Disabled, the Hamilton County Section 8 Program, USDA Rural Development, and local housing counseling agencies. As a preview to the Forum, the partners jointly provided an exhibit on homeownership at a consumer fair at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital held during May, Minority Health Month.

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After years of planning and many long months spent seeking funds and assistance from a wide variety of public and private organizations, the doors are open wide - consciously wide enough to accommodate the disabled - at the Ferguson Apartment Building in Grand Rapids.

The Ferguson Renaissance Center proudly hosted an open house earlier this year, followed by a special presentation, building tours, and a reception for the community. Representatives from federal, state & local government, philanthropy, investors, service providers, churches and other major partners took part in the event, but the most delighted celebrants are the new residents.

Ferguson residents will have access to services that include on-site medical services, pharmaceutical facilities, a corner convenience store, churches, and public transportation.

The Ferguson Apartment Building is located in an inner city area of Grand Rapids known as the Heartside District. This project is part of a plan to renovate and improve this entire downtown area and rid it of vacant buildings, prostitution and crime. Today, Heartside has thriving businesses and loft apartment that house diverse populations and income groups. Two residents, Jim Knoll and Hazel Pearson, were moving to Ferguson from Heartside Manor, a privately owned seven-story building with substandard living accommodations. Many residents live in cramped, poorly lit rooms and even share bathrooms. Jim is a former musician who moved to Grand Rapids over 20 years ago to obtain work and because he felt services for the blind and disabled were better in the State of Michigan. Hazel, who uses a stroller to get around, also moved to this area to seek out sorely needed Community Health Services, which she had could not receive in her former community.

For added security, rooms are equipped with intercoms for direct connection to the front desk. Small kitchen areas and desks are located in each room.

Ferguson is a $16 million facility with 101 studio apartments that will house the homeless, disabled and mentally ill populations in the Grand Rapids area. This apartment complex is the result of extensive renovation efforts on an old, former hospital that included a five-story addition as well. Spectrum Health, owners of the Ferguson Hospital actually donated the building to the Ferguson Heartside Community Resource Center (FHCRC), which facilitated the activities of the project. Funding included $10 million from the sale of low-income housing and historic tax credits through a Michigan State Housing Development Authority program; $2.2 million in contributions from local community and corporate foundations; $700,000 in HOME and CDBG funds from the City of Grand Rapids; and low-interest loans through the State of Michigan and National City Bank. In addition - and a crucial element in this project - HUD's Section 8 Voucher program will help residents keep their rental payments affordable.

Denny Sturtevant, Executive Director of Dwelling Place of Grand Rapids, Inc., will be the managing agent for the Ferguson Apartment Building. Dwelling Place is a local nonprofit housing developer with considerable expertise in the affordable housing industry.

Ferguson Heartside Community Resource Center (FHCRC) was formed in 1998 with the goal of acquiring the Ferguson Hospital and its campus property for renovation into housing and support services for the community. As a result, the Ferguson Center will supply a variety of important supportive services for the residents, including space for a mental health team to provide case management (serviced through Touchstone Innovare), and a nursing clinic operated by Grand Valley State University's Kirkof School of Nursing. A program that provides after-hospital care, called Recuperation Center, will use 24 rooms at the Ferguson Center, and several local churches will provide volunteers for mentoring and other support as needed. The Center also is developing plans to offer education and employment services. This much needed center for people with disabilities is a vital community collaboration that uniquely blends the initiative and skill of neighborhood churches, social service organizations, educational institutions, governmental agencies, historic redevelopment and private investors.