SD a Model for Housing for Developmentally Disabled Adults

Jim Schmid: “This is a quieter problem. but certainly, for the most part, these are people who didn’t engage in bad behaviors, and they deserve a humane group to help.”

SAN DIEGO—Developmentally disabled adults are especially vulnerable; the need to designate a portion of affordable projects for them is particularly strong—and San Diego is a leading provider, developers Jim and Nathan Schmid tell GlobeSt.com. GlobeSt.com has learned that San Diego is a national leader in providing a percentage of units in a designated “affordable” project for those with a developmental disability, but many don’t realize why this need is so great.

Parents of developmentally disabled children—those with conditions such as autism and cerebral palsy—know that their children will always need care, even into adulthood, so the issue of “where will my child live?” is very real to them. They don’t want their adult children to be institutionalized, but the options are limited; therefore, this type of housing works on many levels: 1. the units are built to standards to help the disabled, (i.e., they have roll-in showers, lowered countertops, peepholes, etc.; and 2. the units have more than one bedroom so that a caregiver can always live there. Jim Schmid, founder and CEO of Chelsea Investment Corp. and developer of Ouchi Courtyards, is responsible for getting these units built and advocating for them in his industry. (His granddaughter, Nathan’s daughter, has CP, so he knows first-hand about the challenges these families fast in finding long-term housing for their children.) Nathan, executive director of Southern California Housing Collaborative, is also involved in the effort to create more housing units for developmentally disabled adults. We spoke with both of them about why this effort is so important and what developers in other markets can learn from San Diego’s approach.