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My name is Joey. My service site is Accessible Housing Austin,
and at Accessible Housing Austin,
my primary objective is to run the neighborhood stabilization program that we have.
Which is basically, we have bought some foreclosed homes and we hope to rehabilitate those homes.
Make some accessible modifications and then rent those homes to low income families with
members with disabilities.
Well, before I was a member of the ASSET Program,
I was a member of another AmeriCorps program in Austin.
So, there were some similarities obviously, but the thing that probably…that definitely
differentiates itself from my last term…just the freedom that I have.
Some days I am at a house painting, some days I am in the office making presentations for
a board meeting or for a focus group with members of the disability community.
So, I just like the freedom and … just the ability to do different things and you know…
be in an ever-changing environment.
Like I said, I was an AmeriCorps member in another Austin non-profit that provides housing…
low income housing to people.
And we built those houses, so those houses had to adhere to ADA standards.
So I knew little bit about just the basics of no step entry and widen doorways and hallways
and such.
And I even had built a few ramps with the Texas Ramp Project.
So I had an idea about accessibility modifications, but not near the experience I have gotten
so far. We were just doing the bare minimum there, and with the houses we're working on
now they’re much more accessible than just the standard ADA requirements.
So my most rewarding experience so far, is probably getting JT’s House ready to go.
JT’s House was a house that Accessible Housing Austin
had before I was a member here,
but right before I came on, the house had to be vacated.
The tenant had to move, and the tenant left the home in disrepair.
So, my first day on the job, we went down to JT’s House to look at it.
And, the first couple months here I was just working on the house.
Painting; fixing on the deck; fixing various things around the house.
And a couple of months into my term, the house was actually rented out to a family.
The family was a ‘Season of Caring Family’ through the Austin American Statesman Newspaper.
They were referred to us by Meals on Wheels and More.
So Meals on Wheels helped us out with some of the rehab, and came in at the last minute
added some finishing touches that were probably going to be out of our budget.
And really made the house look great, and made the house, just a nice house for the
family.