ARE supported living communities that have been developing for decades in response to a devastating lack of accessible housing compounded by the prevalence of stigmas that exist in many modern suburbs and cities. Micro Communities usually benefit from shared amenities and caregiving that would otherwise be too expensive to afford for individual residents.
ARE advocating for more person-centered and individualized supports in housing options where individuals with I/DD and/or mobility issues can choose their service provider, their roommates, and their schedule based on their self-determined choices.
ARE often developed in response to the isolation that many individuals with disabilities currently experience without access to true friendships, meaningful work opportunities, and with feelings of being unsupported and under-valued by their community. Living in a pedestrian-oriented, intentional community offers easier access to develop relationships, freedom to join or retreat from activities, and more choices in work or volunteer opportunities without being dependent on others for transportation.
ARE designed to create spaces that foster greater community integration through developing amenities, activities and social enterprises that are needed in the broader community, in addition to neurotypical neighbors, roommates, co-workers, and volunteers.
ARE a voluntary, non-institutional, affordable housing option.
ARE home and community for many individuals with and without a disability.
source: autismhousingnetwork.orgWHAT ARE INTEGRATED
MICRO COMMUNITIES?
ARE NOT a new phenomenon.
ARE NOT congregate care facilities.
ARE NOT isolating individuals with I/DD and other adults with disabilities.
ARE NOT increasing segregation of individuals with I/DD and other adults with disabilities.
ARE NOT in violation of the Supreme Court’s Olmstead Decision, which expressly supports choice and access to necessary services.