DRP Assists Client with Self-Advocacy Resulting in Client Being Able to Stay in Her Home in the Community

DRP assisted a woman with mental illness, who has been living in a housing complex for the past 10 years with the help of a section 8 voucher. She stores many of her belongings in boxes. For the past 10 years, she has passed all required inspections. This year, the inspector told her that she needed to make her living room look like a standard living room. With limited finances, she was not able to obtain assistance. She requested that the inspector accommodate her by giving her two months until he came back to re-inspect her unit, but he was not willing to do so. With our client’s permission, DRP staff spoke with the inspector. He agreed that he would take into consideration our client’s disability and financial limitations and suggested that the client make a request directly to Section 8. DRP assisted the client with a letter to Section 8 asking to be accommodated with more time to clean her apartment. Our client also received some help with clean up from a local organization referred by DRP staff. ​ With help with DRP in self-advocacy, our client was able to stay in her home in the community.