Housing Myth Busting Community Spotlight: Danessa M.

Families CCAN is proud to be a recipient of the PA Developmental Disabilities Council’s  Housing Myth Busting grant.  The goal of our project is to break down some of the prevalent myths, or falsehoods, about housing for adults with disabilities. 

Along with our partners from Self Advocates United as One (SAU1), we are sharing information about Independent Living for Adults with disabilities.  

As part of our project, we are sharing a series of Community Spotlight Interviews.  These interviews highlight the stories of individuals with disabiltiiles who are living independently in the community.  

Our Next Housing Myth Busting Community Spotlight Interviewee is Danessa.  Danessa lives in an apartment in Bucks county.  She works 5 days a week and spends her free time with friends and family, participating in sports and crafting.  

Danessa was interviewed by SAU1 Power Coaches and Housing Myth Busting team members Gretchen and Elijah.   This interview  has been lightly edited for length, but the words are all Danessa’s own. 

Thank you for agreeing to this interview, Danessa.  We know you live on your own.  The information you provide is so valuable.  Do you live in a city, a small town, or a suburb, or a rural area?

“Rural.”

Is it an apartment, a duplex, or a house? 

“An apartment. . . .  I lived with my parents.  My parents passed away.  My sister and brother raised me.  I moved out to Quakertown with two ther roommates, and then I moved here.  I work at a day program.”

Who helped you plan your move to your own place?

“My support staff and my sister”

How are you paying for living in your own place?

“I pay rent.  My social security covers my room and board.”

Do you feel you are receiving enough support? What are those supports? 

“Yes, my staff, my case worker, and my work people at my job.  And my sister.”

What are some steps you took before you moved before you moved from your family home in order to get ready to live in your own place? 

“At first, I didn’t want to move out of my parent’s place with my sister, but my sister has her own family and she wanted me to live on my own and live in a house with two other girls.   I practiced cooking and cleaning.  I cook chicken, steak, pork chops, sausage, eggs. . . .”

What skill do you think has been most important to living on your own?  How do you get around? 

“I can walk outside, across the street, to take walks, but the only issue is that I need rides to stores. When I lived [in town], I could walk all over the place, but here, I can’t walk to stores. I have to have staff take me places.”

What is one thing that is wonderful about living in your own place? 

“It’s much quieter, and I can have the bathroom to myself.  I don’t have to share the bathroom or the laundry room. I live by myself now. “

Do you feel included in your neighborhood? 

“Yeah, I have neighbors around, they’re friendly.” 

Do you have social spaces in your community that you use or go to frequently? 

“QMart, Walmart, and Target pretty much every day.” 

What do you like to do in your free time? 

“I do bowling.   I do soccer.  I have a brother and sister who live [nearby].  I had parents, but they passed away, and I was raised by my brother and sister.  When my brother moved out, he moved to Philly, then my sister and her husband stayed in my parents’ house and I moved to [a house]  with two other roommates. I didn’t get along with them, so I moved to [this apartment], and now I get to see my sister more.” 

What kind of fun things do you like to do in your apartment?

“I do crafts.  I like to clean.  I like to listen to music.   I like to take walks.  . . .   I talk to my friends on the Echo machine and . . .   we do sports together. “ 

What kind of arts and crafts do you like to do?

“ My sister got some stencils for me on canvas boards” {Danessa took a moment to show the artwork to the group, all agreed that it was lovely.}

Danessa, your apartment looks nice!

“Thank you.  I have lots of little knick-knacks.” 

Are there spaces in your community where you make art? 

“My sister orders some stuff for me to do [at home].” 

Do you do those just for yourself? 

“I do them for myself, and then I put them on my shelf for decoration”.  

What advice would you have for other people with disabilities who are thinking of getting their own place?

“It was hard for me to move out of my parents’ house, because I wanted to stay with my sister, but it was too much.  I moved out on my own with two other roommates.  It was hard in the beginning for me to move.  I just didn’t want to leave my sister. . . .  I’m happy I did now, though.  It was scary [at the time].  

Is there anything that made the transition easier?

“Now it’s fine,  where I’m at, but in the beginning it was hard for me to get up and pack my stuff and go.  I wanted to stay, but my sister [encouraged] me to be on my own and do stuff.”  

What are some things that you enjoy now about living on your own?

“[Before], I had two other roommates.  It was three bedrooms and one bathroom, and a laundry room in the basement, so we had to share the laundry and share the bathroom.  Now I just have to share with my staff. (laughing)  I tell them all the time to leave a tip for me.  [My staff person]  knows I’m messing with him.”   

How long did you live in the other house with your housemates? 

“It was when I was in my thirties, for a year or two.  It wasn’t long.”

And how long have you been in your current apartment?

“Since 2014”.  

You mentioned that you work.  Do you work every day?

“I work everyday Monday through Friday. I didn’t work this Tuesday, because of the snow.  Unless there’s snow -- then [my staff] tells me that the roads are bad, and the vans are grounded, and I should stay home.  I work with adults. . . .   Before Covid, I used to go in and feed them, and take them for walks, go do stuff.  Now, since Covid hit, I just do laundry, take them off the bus, take them to their rooms, take towels, whatever they need.”  

Those sound like really important jobs.

“Yeah. From 8:30 to 12:30.  It used to be 10:00-2:00.  I want to go back, but I’m not sure if my boss will want me from 10:00 to 2:00 again.”  

It sounds like you have a full life and a beautiful apartment.   Is there anything else that you would like to share about living on your own? 

“[laughing] I’ve covered it.”  

This project is funded by the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council.  To learn more about the project and how you can get involved, please visit our Housing Myth Busting page.