Project to fill gap of housing for adults with disabilities
LONDON: A proposed housing project aims to fill a much-needed gap to serve people with disabilities.
A new Patuxent Commons apartment complex is proposed to be built in Columbia’s Hickory Ridge community near Cedar Lane and Freetown Road. It would include 76 affordable housing units for seniors and families, and 25% of the units will be set aside for adults with disabilities.
“It is an intentional, intergenerational model for people with disabilities (to) live alongside senior citizens, and also families, to foster that mutual support,” said Deborah Clutts, a board member of the Howard County Autism Society and resident of the neighborhood.
The Howard County Autism Society Housing Task Force has been working for years to create more living opportunities for a community that Clutts said is vastly underserved.
“There is just a significant need and a shortage, and so it is a great worry (for) parents who have adult children with disabilities … where will they live? What is the best place for (them)? What is the best place for them when I’m not here?” said Clutts, who is also a member of the task force.
“What (does) it say about us if we can’t even afford to house our own people?” said Matthew Plantz, a self-advocate and Howard County Autism Society board member.
Plantz said the proposal isn’t just a local issue. He hopes Patuxent Commons will serve as a national model.
“Unfortunately, we have a waiting list as long as my arm or longer (for prospective residents),” Plantz said.
In order for the project to move ahead, the Howard County Council needs to vote on legislation to ease some of the financial burden, paving the way for new construction, which has been limited to control growth.
Christiana Rigby, vice chair of the Howard County Council, supports the project and hopes it will make a difference.
“This will fulfill an infrastructure need that we have because, otherwise, people have to have to move out of their support networks that they have spent building for decades,” she said.
“This project is pretty uniquely exciting. They came together because a group of parents saw a need in our community and they created a solution.”
