OPINION | Multicultural Village Offers Real Help for People With Disabilities

by Ginger Kwan

As a parent of an adult son with autism, I'm constantly asking myself a question that haunts all parents in my situation: Where will my son live after I've passed away?

A recent report by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services found a huge lack of affordable housing that meets the needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Over 37,000 Washingtonians with intellectual disabilities face housing insecurity, while the state has only 1,382 Housing Trust Fund units that serve this community.

I worry that my son and others like him won't find a place to live that is near the public transit they rely on to work, accessible for people with disabilities, and, most importantly, affordable. As a family of immigrants, we encounter language and cultural challenges while navigating complex housing and social service systems. We're not the only ones in this situation; it's the reason I started Open Doors Multicultural Families — a nonprofit designed to provide support and programming for immigrants, refugees, and People of Color.

Thankfully, the Washington State Legislature has a chance to connect social services and affordable housing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from diverse backgrounds by funding the Multicultural Village and Family Resource Center. The Multicultural Village is a holistic affordable housing and social services complex that centers the needs of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities by co-locating services and housing adjacent to the Kent Des Moines Link light rail station.

This means people with disabilities and their families could live in a building that houses childcare designed for their needs and a community center where adults with disabilities can train for jobs, get case management support, and socialize in a safe, accessible environment. Designed for multi-generational families, the Multicultural Village offers culturally and linguistically responsive programs on-site, allowing families to stay together and support each other. Utilizing an inclusive housing model, the Multicultural Village combines units designed specifically for people with developmental disabilities with units for the larger community.

These units would make a huge difference for the immigrant families I work with every day. Takehiko Hayakawa, a Japanese immigrant whose son Ryo lived with autism, spent years looking for housing and services that were available in Japanese and could accommodate his son's needs. He was not able to find culturally supportive daily living care and decided to make the difficult choice to leave his job and return his family to Japan where he hoped he would have a better chance to get the support his family needed. Unfortunately, Ryo passed away before Mr. Hayakawa could find support for his son. And, this is just one of many similar cases in our state.

I urge the state Legislature to fund the Multicultural Village and make it easier for people with disabilities from diverse backgrounds to get the support they need. The project already has strong support from a public/private partnership that includes Mercy Housing, the City of Kent, Sound Transit, Amazon's equity fund, and state-elected officials. Your support will help families like the Hayakawas by providing affordable housing as well as access to transit and social services in the same location.

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Ginger Kwan founded Open Doors for Multicultural Families in 2009 to fill the gap for culturally appropriate services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

📸 Featured Image: Photo via Mangkorn Danggura/Shutterstock.com.