'GOAL IS INDEPENDENCE'

Nonprofit helps developmentally disabled buy, maintain homes

By Lisa Bemard-Kuhn
lbernard@enquirer.com

Curtains.

That's the top item to buy on Linda Gunther's to-do list.

She needs them for her newly painted pale blue master bedroom, her new contemporary kitchen and her soon-to-be finished living room that boasts floor-to-ceiIing windows along Chase Avenue in Northside.

It's a small detail - but getting this far has been a long time coming for Gunther - a client of Avondale-based Living Arrangements for the Developmentally Disabled (LADD).

Over the last 10 years, the nonprofit has been helping residents with developmental disabilities achieve and maintain homeownership - even in the face of the sagging economy.

Through its Service for the Ownership and Acquisition of Residences (SOAR) program, the agency works with clients through the entire home-buying process, including helping them find down payment assistance and financing, and as pre- and post~homeowner counseling.

Gunther is the agency's 23rd client slated to buy a home with the help of SOAR.

She's worked for three years to save $4,000 for her down payment and pass SOAR's homeownership education program.

"It's going to be a big responsibility," she said recently as she toured her new home, a two-bedroom condominium in Northside that's in the final stages of renovation.

Gunther expects to close on the $111,000 condo and move in soon.

"It's a big step," she said. "You have to buy insurance, pay your mortgage on time, your gas and electric, water, sewage bills - all the good stuff. And, you still have to save money in case something breaks down. You can't just call the landlord and say, 'Can I put a work order in?'"

Across Hamilton County, LADD serves roughly 400 residents with developmental disabilities helping reach individual goals of independence, says Debbie Becker, the nonprofit's director of development.

"Our ultimate goal is independence to the best of their ability," she said. "Some people prefer to be in an apartment of their own. Some people want to have meaningful employment. Others want to go out and build friendships through volunteerism. It's all about each individual and whatever level of independence they desire."

Guiding Gunther and other clients on the path to homeownership is SOAR's Program Manager Rick Taylor.

The process starts the same as it should for anyone looking to buy a home, he said.

"The first thing we do is get a credit check to see if they're even eligible to buy a home," he said. "If they have problems then we work with them to correct them before we can move forward. They have to qualify for a standard mortgage, like anyone else would."

Key to making homeownership affordable to its clients is LADDs work to garner grants from local and national sources and build relationships with other community-based nonprofits.

A portion of Gunther's home is being financed with a slice of a $10,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation that was awarded to LADD.

She's buying her home from the Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corp. (CINCURC) - a nonprofit developer. The group received a $22,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati to help pay for the modifications to Gunther's home and $5,000 toward her down payment.

The sale to Gunther will mark the second time CINCURC and LADD have partnered.

"I think it's a spectacular program," said Stefanie Sunderland, executive director of CINCURC. "They work very closely with their clients and really strive to protect their rights and make certain that ultimately the client gets what they want."

For Gunther, moving day can't come soon enough. "I'm ready to be out in the community, and doing more stuff on my own," she said. "It's going to be a big change."

About Living Arrangements for the Developmentally Disabled

• Mission: To assist developmentally disabled residents in Hamilton County in finding housing and achieving independence.
• Employees: 115
• Founded: 1996
• Located: 3603 Victory Parkway, Avondale
• Information: www.laddinc.org