In the Forefront: Assessing Public Housing Needs for Persons with Disabilities

Main Article Content

G. Lawrence Farmer
Henry J. Davis
Janna C. Heyman
Susan Matloff-Nieves
Peggy L. Kelly
Smita Dewan
Nancy Wackstein
Dalys Castro

Keywords

Persons with disabilities, public housing, assessment, quantitative measures, advocacy, community empowerment, public policy

Abstract

Individuals living in low-income and marginalized communities often experience access issues when it comes to advocating for community resources and services, especially those services assisting people with disabilities (Anderson, Hergenrather, & Jones, 2021).  Developing solutions with all stakeholders empowers individuals to help direct available resources towards new opportunities and professional development (Browne, Hackett, & Burger, 2017; Kennedy, 2018). Current research has also pointed to the importance of stakeholder engagement in public housing research (Mouratidis, 2020).  In light of this information, there has been a paucity of disability research in a community center environment. Furthermore, residents with disabilities may face even greater obstacles acquiring services and advocating for their needs (Park, Cho, & Chen, 2019).


This research employed a quantitative approach to capture insights from community residents about their perceived needs of the community. Overall identification of needs was conducted to understand the needs of residents with disabilities and residents without disabilities. For residents with disabilities, the programs that were ranked highest in need were community projects, age-focused programs, and health related programs. For respondents without disabilities, the highest perception of need was for employment programs, and age-focused programs.  These findings offer suggestions for future programming, policies and research.

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