00:00 - This program has been paid for by the sponsor and does not

00:03 - the views of PCN.

00:20 - Good afternoon

00:21 - and welcome to PHRC Speaks: Fair Housing Forward.

00:24 - I'm your host Brittany Mellinger and I serve as the Fair Housing

00:27 - and outreach coordinator at the Pennsylvania Human Relations Com

00:31 - In this show, we explore all thi housing with the experts.

00:35 - Advocates and community leaders working to expand access to hous

00:40 - Today, we'll be discussing housing opportunities for indivi

00:43 - with disabilities.

00:44 - It's my pleasure to welcome to t Laura Willmer-Rodack,

00:47 - Laura Willmer-Rodack

00:49 - is an experienced leader in the social work and housing s

00:53 - currently serving as the Director of English

00:55 - Self Determination Housing of Pennsylvania.

00:58 - Her commitment to a world where housing is available and a

01:01 - for all is evident throughout her professional jour

01:05 - With 15 years of experience, she has expertize in program dev

01:10 - program development

01:10 - and management, partnership deve and nonprofit leadership.

01:14 - She ensures that all stakeholder are at the table.

01:17 - Most importantly, those with lived experience

01:21 - or career journey includes signi roles at TABOR Community Service

01:26 - now tenfold where she advanced from an intern to program manage

01:30 - In her current role with Inglis Self-determination Housing a Pen

01:34 - she oversees several statewide p all with a focus on creating acc

01:39 - affordable housing options for individuals with disabilitie

01:43 - She holds a master's of social w and a Bachelor of Arts

01:47 - in Social Work from Millersville University of Pennsylvania.

01:51 - She lives in Lancaster, Pennsylv with her husband Pat and their d

01:56 - Welcome, Laura, to PHRC Speaks and thank you for joining us.

02:00 - Hi, Brittney.

02:00 - Thank you so much for having me.

02:02 - Yeah, so we all have a story on how we got to our work and vocat

02:07 - Can you share a little bit about your journey to your curre

02:11 - Yeah, so

02:11 - I, like you, have done your intr

02:15 - I started off working in homeless services.

02:18 - I got an internship kind of in the middle of

02:23 - my bachelor's program.

02:24 - And the idea and the concept of as a basic human right and housi

02:28 - as a need really kind of stuck w

02:32 - as something that I wanted to dedicate my career and my wor

02:37 - just understanding that folks need a stable place to call home

02:42 - to get all the other pieces of l the puzzle of life, put together

02:48 - It's hard to work on some of big

02:51 - whether that be increasing incom

02:55 - you know, getting better health outcomes for yourself

02:58 - without a stable place to go home at night.

03:00 - And I think that's something tha kind of kept me going and someth

03:06 - is, you know,

03:07 - I it's such a collaborative kind and I really enjoy

03:12 - being able to collaborate across to to find solutions for folks.

03:17 - Yeah, absolutely.

03:19 - So could you tell our viewers a about the work of Angle

03:22 - Self-determination, Health in Pennsylvania?

03:24 - Sure. Yeah.

03:25 - So Angle Self-determination,

03:27 - housing of Pennsylvania has been around since about 1994

03:31 - And we've existed to bridge the information gap

03:34 - between the housing and housing and the disability services worl

03:39 - So we do a lot of training and technical assistance

03:41 - to social service providers across the Commonwealth.

03:45 - We offer free webinars many, many options to choose fro

03:50 - They all happen on a reoccurring and we also do personalized

03:54 - kind of 1 to 1 trainings with organizations

03:58 - as their needs arise and as they

04:01 - ideas for what their team needs.

04:04 - We also do technical assistance.

04:06 - So I like to say under the RHC, the Regional Housing Coordinator

04:10 - we're like the case manager for the case manager.

04:12 - So if there is a service provide who is kind of running up agains

04:17 - with trying to find resources for someone that they're working

04:20 - we are we have a regional housin coordinator that can assist by c

04:24 - community resources collaborating across us, across

04:27 - to ensure a good outcome for for folks who need them.

04:32 - So we do like all of the trainin and technical assistance under o

04:35 - regional housing coordinator pro and that operates across the sta

04:40 - We also have a home modification where we actually go

04:44 - into folks at home and modify them to meet their ne

04:48 - So if someone is choosing to age and the older adults who are loo

04:52 - to maintain their housing

04:55 - by just doing some small modific we can do that.

04:59 - Also working with folks all the way up through,

05:01 - you know, people who have trauma spinal cord injuries who might n

05:04 - a larger modification to continue to live in their hom

05:08 - So we try to hit kind of all of the pieces of the

05:11 - when it comes to housing and the accessibility of that.

05:15 - So through kind of that system as macro level work

05:18 - and then at the micro level, we' actually kind of doing the const

05:22 - That's incredible.

05:23 - Just the variety of different se that you offer.

05:26 - And as someone who's worked

05:27 - in the housing field

05:28 - for a while now, I know there ar those gaps and challenges.

05:31 - So it's fantastic that you have

05:34 - Yeah, and one of the things I re about the RHC program

05:36 - is that we get to get counties to connect with each other as we

05:40 - So know we all know we're runnin into the same issues all the tim

05:44 - And if we can, you know, one of is working with someone in Adams

05:48 - and they know someone up in Wayn County has worked on the same th

05:52 - We can get those folks together and hopefully not reinvent the w

05:56 - which I know you know, we we can try to do.

05:58 - It can be easy to do it that way

06:00 - But if we can kind of connect and learn from each other,

06:04 - we think we get better outcomes

06:05 - And that's one of my one of my m favorite things about the RHC pr

06:09 - I'd also be remiss if I didn't m we do host an annual conference

06:14 - that brings together key stakeholders to talk about a

06:17 - affordable housing and how do we that across the Commonwealth?

06:21 - Incredible.

06:23 - So your work focuses on the hous of individuals with disabilities

06:26 - Could you share with us what some of the biggest housing

06:29 - are for individuals with disabilities in Pennsylvani

06:33 - Yeah, I mean, I think the larges access to accessible, affordable

06:38 - Great.

06:38 - The lack of housing that is affo and accessible is just is immens

06:44 - in Pennsylvania and across the c

06:46 - Right. So we really

06:50 - that is the biggest need is the brick and mortar hou

06:53 - Right.

06:55 - And the also

06:57 - the idea of, you know, the housing providers,

07:00 - landlords, property managers,

07:04 - understanding the needs of people with disabil

07:07 - and how to work with them effectively. Right.

07:09 - Like it's not, you know, modifyi

07:13 - a rental unit is, you know, actually makes it more marketabl

07:17 - Right. So how do we also,

07:19 - you know, get landlords and property managers

07:22 - to understand their role in prov housing for people with disabili

07:25 - And that it's also really it's a game changer for their busines

07:30 - Yeah, I love how you phrase it as like a win win situation.

07:33 - You know, it's beneficial both

07:35 - for the individual that needs ho but also for the housing provide

07:39 - Yeah.

07:39 - And, you know, helping folks kind of understand that

07:42 - at some point we're all and ever going to experience a disability

07:45 - whether it's temporary or perman and we're all going to need hous

07:49 - So how do we

07:51 - how we

07:51 - modify units to to meet some of those temporary needs?

07:55 - Right. Or,

07:57 - you know, work through them perm

07:59 - and make it a a permanently affordable unit?

08:03 - Yeah, absolutely.

08:04 - So I know you touched on this al but could you share with us

08:06 - a little bit more about your home modifications pr

08:10 - What are some of the types of ho that you typically fund?

08:13 - Yeah, so we do a lot.

08:15 - We get really creative with the that we have, but the vast

08:19 - majority of things that we do is we install ramps, we can add gra

08:24 - we can modify bathrooms and kitc to to allow for mobility devices

08:29 - So if someone is a wheelchair us

08:31 - we can work on leveling the sink, lowering the sink

08:36 - and mirrors and faucets and all those kinds of things to

08:40 - folks can reach them to complete their activities of daily living

08:43 - Those are the things that we really look at

08:45 - to make sure that someone can li comfortably and safely in their

08:49 - can they get in and out of their and can they access the bathroom

08:53 - We do stairlifts as well.

08:55 - We have also done

08:57 - kind of outside vertical lifts for four more row homes.

09:01 - That's kind of what we see in more urba

09:04 - But in more rural areas or subur areas, we're doing more ramps

09:07 - and those sorts of things.

09:08 - So we have a little bit more spa

09:11 - We are also working with English

09:14 - Assistive Technology Department, to incorporate more smart home

09:19 - activities and products into our home modif

09:22 - We believe that those two concep really marry beautifully togethe

09:27 - and can increase the accessibili and safety in someone's home by

09:31 - some, you know, Alexa is aware r doorbells, smart blinds.

09:38 - I think I wish I had smart blinds a lot at the time.

09:40 - Right.

09:41 - So those are some things that we to kind of think outside the box

09:44 - outside of those traditional gra

09:47 - or shower seats and those sorts to really, truly,

09:51 - you know, make things as is serv as holistically as possible.

09:56 - Yeah, some of those changes might seem really minor,

10:00 - but I can

10:00 - imagine they make a really big d in the quality of life of someon

10:03 - who can access everything in the or get their blinds

10:07 - easily adjusted or see who's at

10:10 - Absolutely.

10:11 - And yeah,

10:12 - like you said, they might seem s they really do have such a high

10:16 - And that's really what we look a what can we do?

10:18 - What can we bring into someone's that will have the highest impac

10:23 - that will

10:23 - allow them to kind of live independently for as long as the

10:27 - Yeah, absolutely.

10:28 - And getting to stay in their own in their community

10:31 - where they've got support.

10:32 - So I imagine that can be really for folks to to not have to move

10:36 - someone when their mobility need

10:39 - Absolutely.

10:39 - I mean, we know people thrive in their communities of choice

10:43 - and we want to support that as b and for as long as possible.

10:48 - There will be some folks that, y need extra levels of care at som

10:52 - And those are valid choices as w

10:55 - and necessary, you know, choices

11:00 - but really, our goal with our home modifications prog

11:03 - is to keep people where they wan as safely as possible.

11:07 - And we'll collaborate with wheth with whatever organizations

11:11 - the person is also working with or involved with.

11:13 - So if they're working with, you know, their area agency on A

11:16 - or they're working with their service coordinator,

11:20 - you know,

11:20 - we'll make sure that we keep people at

11:24 - so that the work that we do, we kind of come in and come out

11:28 - and we know that other people will stick around for longer.

11:31 - So we want to make sure that, yo everyone is at the table and eve

11:35 - understands what the needs are and how we can all meet them tog

11:39 - Fantastic.

11:41 - So next, I'd like to talk a litt about the Section 811 Project

11:44 - Rental Assistance Program.

11:45 - Could you tell us a little bit about this program and who it se

11:49 - Yeah.

11:49 - So the Section 811 program is it a federal initiative that comes

11:54 - that provides rental assistance income individuals with disabili

11:58 - ages 18 to 61, I believe.

12:02 - And it

12:03 - allows them to live independentl in their communities of choice.

12:06 - It is a rental assistance progra

12:10 - that folks can access for the en they live in that unit

12:15 - and it makes it easier for folks to maintain housing.

12:18 - Right.

12:18 - We know that folks with disabili their incomes are not as high

12:21 - as the general population and they often need subsidies

12:24 - in order to to maintain housing

12:27 - And so this program is a partner between the Pennsylvania

12:32 - Housing Finance Agency, the Penn Department of Human Services. An

12:38 - we operate the waitlist for that and we maintain the waitlist.

12:42 - We recruit folks with waitlist,

12:44 - and then we make the referrals to the rental units themselves.

12:47 - So we do a lot of cross cross sy collaboration again

12:51 - to ensure folks can get access to these un

12:54 - It's an incredibly beneficial pr

12:57 - It's an incredibly

13:00 - high impact program as well.

13:04 - And we look forward to continuing that work

13:08 - with the newest award given to Pennsylvania last year.

13:12 - Excellent.

13:13 - Could you talk a little bit about the impact of being able

13:16 - to live in the community as oppo to having to live in a nursing h

13:21 - Yeah.

13:22 - So we truly believe that living provides people with a chance

13:25 - to experience a higher level of independence and self-determi

13:30 - by our name or our team's name.

13:32 - You know that that self-determin is really important to us

13:36 - and we really kind of see that a

13:41 - the jumping off point for everything that we do.

13:44 - So living in the community help people form social connections,

13:49 - pursue employment opportunities, and engage in activities that th

13:53 - Right. And I think

13:55 - just because someone has a disab doesn't mean that

13:57 - any of those things that you and do are different for other peopl

14:02 - Disabilities, right.

14:04 - They want to live and do their

14:07 - how it can kind of get about in their community, go grocery s

14:12 - get to their own doctor's appointments by themselves,

14:15 - form social relationships and co

14:17 - with their neighbors, and partic

14:21 - So that is something that we rea as beneficial.

14:23 - It is something that really

14:27 - we want to we want to work

14:29 - to make sure that that is a real for everyone with disabilities.

14:32 - But that's not always a reality for everyone.

14:35 - And that's for a variety of reas because typically a lot of these

14:39 - require additional support, whether that's through

14:43 - various social service organizat or through natural support.

14:47 - So we know that that sometimes is difficult.

14:49 - So we are also working to really that the support,

14:52 - while we want to encourage folks to live independently,

14:55 - we also want to make sure the supports are there, to make

14:56 - that that can happen and they ca in their community long term.

15:00 - Yeah, absolutely.

15:01 - And as you mentioned, it's it's something that we all want.

15:03 - You know, it's it's human nature to to want to live in the commun

15:07 - that have our supports and to have those options.

15:10 - And it's something that that eve should deserve to have.

15:15 - So as you go about your work, you connect with such a wide var

15:19 - of stakeholders and and people in different role

15:23 - Can you talk a little bit about misunderstandings that you encou

15:29 - regarding individuals with disab

15:31 - who are living out in the commun independently?

15:34 - Sure. Yeah.

15:35 - I mean, there's there can be quite a few. Right.

15:37 - And I think that one of them is that folks with disabilities

15:41 - need like constant supervision or assistance.

15:44 - That's not necessarily the case.

15:46 - I think it varies from person to person, obviously.

15:50 - But the

15:50 - reality is people with disabilit can live very independently with

15:54 - support and accommodations such as assistive technology or

15:59 - And, you know, I think there's also the misconc

16:01 - that the community living isn't sustainable.

16:05 - But again, with proper resources and connec

16:07 - we believe that it really is sus

16:11 - I think some of the things that we encounter when we're tal

16:13 - with landlords as far as modific or some of that goes,

16:18 - landlords might be hesitant to

16:23 - do construction to kind of reall

16:25 - do a lot of work on their proper to make something accessible.

16:29 - But one of the things that we do try to educate landlords on is

16:33 - how much more marketable it makes their unit or their pro

16:36 - and also how

16:40 - how beneficial it is to their co

16:43 - at large versus just this one in

16:47 - Obviously, it's a high impact on the person

16:48 - who's trying to move into the pr Right.

16:50 - But it's also like the impact it can have on the co

16:54 - Yeah, absolutely.

16:57 - So as we both know, housing can be really complicate

17:00 - and a lot of our systems can be really complex.

17:03 - Your team offers some excellent to help people navigate

17:06 - some of these complicated proces anything from evictions

17:10 - and how to navigate that process to accessing affordable

17:14 - housing resources to tenants rights and responsibi

17:18 - Can you talk a little bit about how you take

17:20 - some of these really technical t and make this information

17:23 - understandable and actionable for for the folks that you're tr

17:27 - Yeah. So we yes.

17:30 - So we offer many different kinds of trainings

17:32 - on how to navigate the affordabl housing system right there.

17:35 - It is very nuanced and it is ver

17:38 - And with our goal of bridging th information gap, we get service

17:43 - and organizations that come to u that don't have a ton of knowled

17:47 - how it all

17:48 - works and how this how it works

17:51 - So we have an immense, like an i

17:54 - talented and smart team that builds these trainings out.

17:58 - And all of them have on the grou housing experience from prior ro

18:04 - and are kind of really immersed in this world of affordable hous

18:09 - And we break down the topics, cl

18:12 - step by step explanations, real world examples.

18:16 - We do a lot of kind of engagemen

18:19 - with with folks throughout each presentation wit

18:23 - you know, in the chat, right?

18:25 - In person. We do lots of that.

18:27 - Our approach really is to make the information relatable and pr

18:31 - and focusing on what folks can a in a specific situation

18:36 - and then help folks apply that knowledge at the end.

18:40 - So how does it all connect and w how can you do it right?

18:44 - Like, what does this mean?

18:45 - What are the words that I need to say to a landlord

18:48 - or a property manager or some ot

18:52 - to actually get their participan what they need?

18:56 - Yeah.

18:57 - One of the training programs that you offer, which I think

19:00 - is really unique and really cool is the prepared renter education

19:04 - Could you talk a little bit about what that is

19:07 - and how you've put that together and developed it over the years?

19:10 - Yeah. So yes, we have been runni

19:14 - It's our kind of our capstone, our cornerstone program

19:17 - for many years, way before my ti

19:21 - But that is a train, the trainer

19:23 - So what we do is we work with service providers t

19:27 - learn the material and learn how to present the mat

19:30 - So it's kind of broken down into three different sections.

19:33 - So one is how to find housing.

19:35 - Another one is how to maintain h

19:39 - And I'm forgetting the third one

19:40 - So apologies

19:44 - and oh, and the third one is lik how to be a good tenant, right?

19:49 - Like, how do we kind of

19:51 - how do we kind of make maintain housing long term? So

19:56 - with that,

19:57 - it really breaks it down very gr

20:00 - about how to how to fill out a rental application,

20:04 - how to get references,

20:05 - how to keep track of all the ren you might be looking at.

20:09 - That was something when I was a case manager, I used all the tim

20:14 - and really found super use usefu

20:18 - The trainings evolved over the years quite a b

20:22 - We have

20:23 - lots of different supporting mat now in addition to our manual

20:27 - and folks who kind of come through our prep trainings

20:31 - training, they're training certified, have

20:35 - their regional housing coordinat to connect with on a regular bas

20:39 - as they're implementing Prep in their communities.

20:41 - And that can look different from community, community, county to

20:46 - folks.

20:47 - Some organizations host a an edu

20:50 - session for their participants on a regu

20:53 - Some just use it as four tips fo one on one counseling with folks

20:57 - So it really kind of depends on the community of see

20:59 - lots of different ways that it's implemented, but it re

21:02 - kind of the basis of housing, se for housing and maintaining hous

21:08 - and it can be really applied acr lots of different populations.

21:12 - Yeah, I imagine having those rea practical tools and pieces of in

21:17 - as well as that ongoing support and that flexibility, really mak

21:21 - a really valuable program for th that go through it.

21:24 - Yeah.

21:24 - And we recently also started off

21:26 - continuing education credits for prep train

21:29 - So we're really excited about th that we've seen in that program.

21:33 - Yeah.

21:35 - Could you speak to some of the c misunderstandings or some gaps

21:39 - in knowledge that your training team encounters about housing ri

21:43 - in resources?

21:44 - I know you speak to a wide varie of audiences.

21:47 - What?

21:48 - What do folks not know that they should know?

21:50 - Yeah, I think what gets people most co

21:56 - is all the different kinds of su and programs that exist out ther

22:00 - They all have different eligibility crite

22:02 - They all have different areas of

22:05 - And I think that can be

22:06 - the most confusing for folks kind of outside the housing syst

22:09 - to understand how to navigate and how to access the resources.

22:14 - I think sometimes people can say the right thing,

22:18 - the right words to the right per and they get what they need.

22:21 - And our goal really is to make s that everybody knows the right w

22:24 - to say and the right people or organizations to go to

22:27 - to get their participants what t

22:30 - I think people also sometimes get really confused about what

22:32 - their rights are, what their rights as a tenant,

22:36 - and what they are allowed, what they're afforded through th

22:40 - Housing Act, as well as,

22:45 - you know, all of those kinds of that kind of come into play with

22:48 - Am I allowed to get a modificati

22:50 - What's the difference between an accommodation and a modificat

22:53 - People can kind of get tripped u on that as well. And I think

22:57 - we've got lots of

22:58 - terminology that we love to use that kind of

23:02 - traps people out.

23:03 - But we do we try to do a pretty good job o

23:07 - maintaining a glossary of those

23:09 - those terms so that folks can can reference them regularly

23:13 - Yeah, that's really helpful.

23:15 - There's a lot of terminology in the housing world, so it's re

23:18 - that you're breaking it down for and making it accessible.

23:22 - So that folks can advocate for t when they do need to ask for

23:25 - those needed changes or figure o how to get the things they need.

23:30 - Yeah.

23:32 - So I know this must be incredibl difficult work week in and week

23:37 - Could you talk a little bit abou keeps you going in the face of c

23:42 - Oh, yeah, it's a really good que

23:44 - I mean, it probably varies from time to tim

23:50 - when I get to hear the positive

23:55 - that obviously keeps me going, r

23:57 - When I hear a story about a modi that we've done that allows some

24:01 - to not have to crawl up their st to access their bathroom.

24:05 - Right.

24:05 - Because we put a stairlift in or when someone finally has acce

24:09 - to some other room in their home

24:11 - that they haven't been able or they can leave their home,

24:14 - that's something that we see a lot of times

24:15 - where folks can even leave their because it's not accessible.

24:19 - So those are the things that I y I love to hear about those.

24:22 - And that definitely puts kind of

24:25 - a boost

24:26 - into into the motivation where for the day.

24:30 - And I you know, I think it's one of those every

24:33 - we get to educate someone else on how to navigate systems,

24:38 - that's a net.

24:38 - Because then I know

24:39 - that person is going to then imp you know, dozens of other people

24:44 - So it's six at one point where we get to educate

24:48 - gets me excited.

24:49 - And just when you get to connect people t

24:53 - because the way that we get this and the way

24:55 - that we address the affordable, housing crisis is by making conn

25:00 - and knowing that we're all in this together.

25:02 - And that's, you know, it's a beautiful thing

25:05 - when those things come together.

25:07 - Yeah. Yeah, it really is.

25:09 - Well, thank you so much, Laura,

25:10 - for the incredible work that you and your team are doing

25:13 - and for taking the time out of y schedule to join us here this af

25:18 - Thanks so much for having the re

25:19 - This is. Wonderful. Absolutely.

25:21 - I would also like to thank our v for spending their afternoon

25:24 - learning with us.

25:25 - If you believe that you've exper housing discrimination

25:28 - or would like to learn more about housing protections in Pen

25:31 - give us a call at PHRC’s Fair Housing Line, which is 8558

25:39 - You can also find us on our webs on the screen,

25:42 - which is w ww w dot pr dot gov s

25:46 - n slash agencies slash C.

25:50 - You can also keep up with our wo on Facebook, Instagram,

25:53 - X, YouTube and LinkedIn.

25:55 - There's lots of different ways.

25:57 - And remember that

25:58 - our communities are stronger when everyone has a place to cal

26:01 - We'll see you next time.

26:04 - This program has been paid

26:06 - for by the sponsor and does not reflect the views o