Housing Choices

DONATE NOW to help us achieve our 2018 goals for providing inclusive, affordable housing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities!

• Lease-up one new Partner Property in Watsonville.
• Construction commencement on a new Partner Property in Santa Cruz.
• Financing commitments secured for a new Partner Property in the County of Santa Clara.
• Increase the number of people assisted with individual housing plans from 1400 annually to 1500 annually.
• Increase the number of households assisted with move-in from 144 annually to 200 annually.
• Maintain housing retention rate of more than 90% for 250 residents of our Partner Properties

Our Vision

Housing Choices was born out of the passion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live as independently as possible in a home of their own.  For all people, a safe and affordable place to call home is the foundation for a rich and fulfilling life. This is no less true of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who, with support, are able to live on their own and participate fully in community life.  The supportive services people with intellectual and developmental disabilities need in order to live independently are available to them--the missing piece of the puzzle is finding an affordable place to live--and that’s where Housing Choices comes in.

What We Do 

Housing Choices takes a holistic and person-centered approach to addressing the housing needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the four counties we serve: Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey. We focus on Housing Advocacy and Development, Housing  Access, and Housing Retention because these elements, working together, increase housing choices for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Through local Housing Advocacy and Development, Housing Choices secures new affordable housing opportunities with a percentage of rental units set aside for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.   The stories and voices of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families are key to the success of our advocacy.  Their testimony has a profound impact on our local leaders, many of whom were otherwise unaware of how much their community’s residents with intellectual and developmental have to contribute.

In addition to creating new local housing commitments, Housing Choices’ team of Housing Coordinators promote Housing Access by helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities apply for affordable housing in the hundreds of subsidized housing properties across our region.  We currently support more than 1,400 people with individual and developmental disabilities in creating individual housing plans, applying for appropriate housing wait lists, and monitoring their status as they wait for a vacancy.  

Finally, Housing Choices’ dedicated team of Resident Coordinators works with over 250 residents to maintain the stability of their housing at our eighteen affordable housing Partner Properties, acting as a trusted liaison between the residents and property managers to resolve housing problems.  We are proud that more than 90% of the residents we support have retained their housing for five years or longer (or as long as the property has been open if less than five years).