Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

New Jersey towns to use affordable housing funds for special-needs housing

Excerpt from North Jersey: (click for entire article)

At least 16 New Jersey municipalities have committed to using affordable housing trust funds to provide supported homes for adults with developmental disabilities, Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez said Tuesday.

Combined with state matching funds, the money is expected to help open at least a couple dozen community homes for the disabled, each of which would house several people with disabilities ranging from severe intellectual disabilities to cerebral palsy and autism.

The state’s push to get towns to commit the trust funds, which come from fees assessed on private developers, is part of a plan announced last year to help address a backlog of disabled adults seeking placement in community programs. Because of a shortage of community housing, many have spent years living in state institutions or in their families’ homes, where they are often cared for by aging parents.

If You Have These Symptoms, You May Be Having A Heart Attack

Excerpt from The Consumerist: (click for entire article)

Some people who suffer heart attacks — especially young women — don't realize what's happening because they think they're safe from the deadly ailment and the symptoms aren't what they expected. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, some women tend not to recognize heart attacks because they weren't accompanied by chest pain.

Fitsugar takes note of the study, reported by CBS News, among many other outlets, and suggests looking out for symptoms that could be signs of heart attacks.

Staten Island mother outraged that condo won't let her install wheelchair lift for her disabled daughter

Excerpt from Media dis&dat: (click for entire article)

A Staten Island mom is outraged that her condo complex refuses to allow her to install a wheelchair lift in front of her home for her daughter with cerebral palsy. Maria Stasinski (pictured) received the $5,000 lift from a charity in January so she would no longer have to carry 4-year-old Giuliana (pictured) up and down stairs in her wheelchair. But she hasn't been able to install it because the condo board at the Richmond Mews complex balked. Stasinski, 37, said she struggles to carry the girl and her wheelchair - a combined weight of 200 pounds - up and down the front steps. She said Giuliana often misses school and therapy in the winter.

Schuette Announces Support for Proposed Legislative Reforms to Help Prosecutors, Law Enforcement Combat Mortgage Fraud

Excerpt from Office of Attorney General: (click for entire article)

Attorney General Bill Schuette today announced his support for proposed legislative reforms intended to strengthen the hand of prosecutors and law enforcement to combat mortgage fraud.  Schuette joins State Senator James Marleau (R-Lake Orion), Secretary of State Ruth Johnson and Oakland County Register of Deeds Bill Bullard, who came together this morning to support legislative reforms in light of recent allegations of fraudulent mortgage documents filed in Michigan.  

"Michigan homeowners deserve every possible legal protection against the devastating effects of mortgage fraud," said Schuette.  "I welcome reforms that will give prosecutors and law enforcement the tools they need to crack down on mortgage fraud and protect homeowners."

Affordable Housing Shortage

From MORC Home Care:

See the attached Harvard Study-based graphs attached. We still desperately need more affordable rental housing. For the complete Harvard Fact Sheet visit http://www.morchomecare.org/advocacy

Dalton Township settles Justice Department lawsuit over group home

Excerpt from MLive.com: (click for entire article)

Dalton Township has agreed to pay $62,500 to settle a federal lawsuit which alleged that the township discriminated against a group home serving recovering drug and alcohol users, the U.S. Justice Department said.

The township must pay $55,000 to Joel Kruszynski, the owner of the group home, because it violated the Fair Housing Act when it denied Kruszynski's request for a special use permit because of a zoning dispute, the Justice Department said.

The Justice Department also assessed the township a $7,500 fine, ordered township officials to obtain training in the Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act. The department also ordered the township to develop a “written policy that will provide a process by which persons may request reasonable accommodations or modifications on the basis of disability.”

“The Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act ensure that persons with disabilities, including those recovering from addiction, can live in a community of their choosing free from discrimination,” Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

Second Largest Reverse Mortgage Company, Bank of America, Quits

Excerpt from ZeiglerSeniorNews: (click for entire article)

Just as 77 million Boomers have started turning 65, the second-largest reverse mortgage company, Bank of America, has gotten out of the reverse mortgage business.

BOA surprised the 600 employees and wholesalers of its reverse mortgage division February 4 with the sudden internal announcement.

The decision appears to have nothing to do with the growing demand for reverse mortgages and everything to do with internal management at BOA, a major recipient of federal bailout money under the Trouble Assets Relief Program.

BOA had left the traditional mortgage business in 2010, halting the origination of "forward mortgages" used to purchase homes and for second mortgages.

Reverse mortgages are on the rise and are expected to boom as Baby Boomers need additional income for retirement or lump sums to pay off debts and to fund long-term care and funeral planning. This growing market will now be served without BOA.

A Miserable Life Inside A Foreclosed Apartment

Excerpt from The Consumerist: (click for entire article)

Living inside an apartment building that has been foreclosed on can become a living hell when the building crumbles into disrepair around you and there's no landlord to call. Bursting heat pipes, cockroaches, mice, hunks of ceiling falling on you, and black mold seeping up the walls have become the new neighbors to tenants in one low-income apartment building in the Bronx where the landlord has long since checked out.

Disabilities Guidebook: Supportive Housing Programs for People with Disabilities

Excerpt from Illinois Legal Aid: (click for entire article)

(Chapter 9 Section 4 from Guidebook of Laws and Programs for People with Disabilities)

The McKinney Homeless Assistance Act;
The National Affordable Housing Act – Section 811;
The Housing Act of 1959 – Section 202;
The U.S. Housing Act of 1937.

What Is It? A series of federal laws that establish a program of supportive housing for low-income persons with disabilities.

What Is Its Purpose? To provide federal money for operating costs and rental assistance for housing projects serving persons with disabilities. To enable persons with disabilities to live with dignity and independence within their communities by expanding the supply of housing that accommodates their special needs and provides them with supportive services that addresses their needs.

Who Can Be Helped by This Law? Low-income or homeless people with disabilities.