Success Story:
She had only been there a few minutes and Tamara already loved her new apartment. She was so excited. She picked out all of her favorite colors and decorated her new one-bedroom apartment just the way she liked it. You see, Tamara is twenty-one years old and has a medical diagnosis of mental retardation, asthma, and moderate blindness. For once in her life she would be able to spread her wings and fly.
This excitement soon dimmed. Shortly after moving in Tamara realized how difficult it would be to live alone. She had a hard time cooking and preparing her food. She needed help with her medications and caring for herself. Her family desperately tried to help. Her brother came by and checked on her every day afterschool. Her mother came to visit in the mornings and the evenings – preparing her food, adjusting the heat, helping with the cleaning, taking out the trash, paying the bills. Back and forth from their home to hers but this could not continue. The landlord had very strict rules about visitors and very soon the family would not be allowed to visit Tamara at her apartment. The family went to the landlord and explained that Tamara needed constant supervision and assistance in order for her to be able to live in the apartment. They asked if a live-in-aide could be added to the lease and allowed to reside in the unit with Tamara.
Unconcerned, the landlord asked “Why can’t she just move back home with you?”
The family was very upset. They went to Tamara’s pediatrician and asked for help. The pediatrician wrote a letter to the property manager explaining why Tamara needed a live in aide and made an referral to the Children’s Health Advocacy Project (CHAP). Tamara was paired with an attorney who helped her enforce her rights under the Fair Housing Act. With the help of her doctor and her lawyer, Tamara was able to transfer her lease and security deposit to a new housing development. She is now living in a two-bedroom apartment with a her live-in-aide. Tamara is happy and her family is at peace knowing that she is safe.