Affordable housing for people with I/DD is in low supply. Learn what ALSO is doing to make a difference.
Affordable housing for people with I/DD is in low supply. Learn what ALSO is doing to make a difference.
I am Brett Turner and I’m included. What does it mean to be included? It means I’m a valued member of our community and I’m allowed to make decisions about my life, where I live, work and play. Sadly, not everyone in our community has historically been included.
I run a local non-profit called Advocates for Life Skills and Opportunity, or ALSO, where we support adults and children living with developmental and other disabilities in their homes, workplaces, and communities and offer a variety of programs that promote independence and inclusion. All people, including those living with developmental and other disabilities should be fully included, participating members of their communities with self-determination, independence, productivity, and a healthy and satisfying quality of life. Throughout Central Oregon, we support 54 people and have been for more than seven years. During that time a lot of progress has been made but we still have work to do.
In July, we celebrate Disability Pride Month and mark the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act being signed into law in 1990. Ten years later, Oregon was at the forefront of protecting and fighting for the rights of people with disabilities by closing Fairview Training Center, which institutionalized and locked up Oregonians with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Organizations like ALSO stepped in to help people find housing and jobs so they could live independently or with some supports if needed. But even in a state like Oregon, where people are no longer locked away out of sight, discrimination and isolation are still major problems.
At ALSO, we focus mainly on employment and housing. Employment is essential to fully realizing independence, identity, and financial freedoms for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Oregon. Work brings many benefits to people experiencing disability, including increasing self-worth, identity, building relationships and access to community resources. ALSO helps match local businesses with qualified applicants with the skills and personality to fit needs and culture in part-time positions while honoring individual choice
And while affordable housing is crucial for our entire community, our housing affordability crisis in Bend disproportionately affects individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The average monthly rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in Bend exceeds the average monthly income of someone on Social Security Disability Insurance. Despite our efforts, only 13% of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities live independently, highlighting the urgent need for more accessible, affordable housing solutions and organizations like ours that can help subsidize this housing from charitable donations.
Everyone deserves the right to choose where they live, how they live, and how they receive supports. People live, work, and thrive in the communities of their choice. Oregonians experiencing disabilities should be fully included in our community. And at ALSO, we strive every day to ensure everyone in our community can say, “I’m included.”