Hope House – Providing In-Home Support for Independent Living

Do you want to make a difference in your community? In this week's episode, our guest is Susan Henderson, the associate executive director of Hope House, an organization that provides in-home support to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Susan describes Hope House as a foundation that provides all levels of support - including related activities of daily living (ADLs), to its clients in their own homes. She gives her insights about the current staffing crisis and housing crisis, which are leading to an increase in the number of individuals not getting adequate housing. She discloses her journey at Hope House Foundation and how they have been able to provide housing support. Listen and enjoy!

Key Highlights:

[00:01 - 09:19] Opening Segment

What Hope House does and its mission

How Susan helps her clients source apartments and connect with landlords

Setting new standards in group home services

[09:20 - 19:53] New Ways to Support Individuals with Disabilities

Susan's outlook on the housing crisis in Virginia and the number of people that do not have adequate housing

The use of technology to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Why it is important to focus on safety and build skills for clients

[19:54 - 26:31] Inclusive Communities for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

How to reach property managers

Lessons learned on how to succeed with accessible housing

We have to be willing to really listen to people with disabilities and understand what they want and need

[26:32 - 29:29]Closing Segment

Susan's tips for providers trying to create accessible housing

Want to connect with Susan? Head to Hope House, an organization that provides services to adults with developmental disabilities exclusively in their own homes or apartments — regardless of how complex their disabilities may be.

Key Quotes:

"We like to try to encourage the people we support to build community." - Susan Henderson

"There's so much to learn from individuals regardless, disability or not." - Susan Henderson

"Know what you bring to the table, promote what you bring to the table, and find other people that have the skills that you'd like to partner with rather than trying to run yourself ragged and learning it all." - Susan Henderson

Please check out videos of many of the podcast episodes on my YouTube channel: Accessible Housing Matters,

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Accessible Housing Matters is dedicated to raising awareness about important issues around accessibility and housing, and getting conversations going.

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