The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has identified people with disabilities as one of the primary populations experiencing worst-case housing needs.
In response, ABILITY Awareness created the ABILITY House project. Built in partnership with Habitat for Humanity affiliates, each ABILITY House is an accessible home built for a family where one or more members have health conditions or disabilities. Additionally, the ABILITY House project reaches out to volunteers with health conditions and disabilities to help build the homes, demonstrating to the community their skills, talents and potential as volunteers and employees.
"The ABILITY House will remove the barriers that keep people with disabilities from owning their own homes," said Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity International, at the launch of the first ABILITY House. "This build will send a powerful message: People with disabilities can make a house into a home."
Featured Initiatives
ABILITY House College Students with Disabilities Initiative (AHCSDI)
The ABILITY House College Students with Disabilities Initiative was established to facilitate the participation by students with disabilities in all stages of planning and construction of an ABILITY House. Potential areas of involvement include helping plan universal design and accessibility features, training/disability awareness, marketing and development, collaborative networking, fundraising, public relations/communications, volunteer outreach and construction.
The main goals of the ABILITY House College Students with Disabilities Initiative are to allow college students with disabilities to demonstrate their potential as employees, community leaders and volunteers as they prepare to enter the work force.
The AHCSDI is underwritten by grants from Hewlett Packard and the Corporation for National & Community Service and sponsored by ABILITY Magazine.
ABILITY House Veterans with Disabilities Initiative (AHVDI)
In recognition of veterans who have acquired disabilities in the line of duty and the specific issues they face during recovery and rehabilitation, the ABILITY House program has launched the ABILITY House Veterans with Disabilities Initiative. In cooperation with the Department of Veterans Affairs' vocational rehabilitation and employment service departments, the Paralyzed Veterans of America and numerous private and state veterans' services agencies, AHVDI will engage in active volunteer service veterans and servicemembers who have health conditions or disabilities.
In addition to their participation on ABILITY House construction sites, veterans will also be targeted as potential recipients of an ABILITY House.
The AHVDI is underwritten by a grant from the Corporation for National & Community Service and sponsored by ABILITY Magazine.
Bibliotherapy is the use of selected reading materials as therapeutic adjuvants, improving consumers' knowledge about their health conditions and about healthy living and promoting empowerment and self-esteem. Bibliotherapy has been shown in several clinical studies to be as important for health as other therapies like medication.
To promote health literacy and personal empowerment for people with health conditions or disabilities who have limited financial means, ABILITY Awareness has created a bibliotherapy program to distribute health, technology and human interest materials relevant to people with disabilities. With the donation of magazines and staff time from ABILITY Magazine, the bibliotherapy program provides free materials to other nonprofits that work with individuals who have disabilities.