Old Homes Will Be Moved, Remodeled For Disabled Work Provided By Program That Teaches, Trains Youths In Crisis In/Around: Hillyard

The term “mobile home” takes new meaning with a partnership between a residential service and an at-risk youth program.

Two neighboring houses in Hillyard will be transplanted six blocks west and remodeled to custom-fit residents who are developmentally disabled.

While the homes will offer more independence to the residents, the move will make more room for a new city park on the 4900 block of North Lacey Street.

The two abandoned houses were purchased from the City of Spokane for $100 each by Inland Empire Residential Resources (IERR).

The deal closed six weeks ago, but the houses couldn’t be moved until the city approved the request and moving route, said Paul Boyd, program manager for the construction program that will perform the move.

Because the houses share land with a newly planned minipark, they would have likely been demolished, said Darryl Reiber, Executive Director of IERR.

The move begins today when Educational Service District 101’s AmeriCorp construction program will hoist the houses onto steel beams and wheel them to their new home on the 5200 block of North Martin Street.

Once moved, the houses will undergo renovations that include building wheelchair ramps, new porches, basements and chimneys, for starters.

“We pretty much do everything short of building a new house,” said Chuck Sauer, head crew supervisor for the construction program.

The program, formerly called the Spokane Service Team, is designed to teach trade skills and strong work ethics to youths in crisis.

The crew, ranging in age from 16 to 24 years, is largely made up of immigrants from the Ukraine, high school dropouts and Geiger inmates.

They do construction work for nonprofit organizations and the city of Spokane.

Participants are paid for their labor and awarded a $4,700 stipend if they stay on the crew for one year. They also may become eligible for child care and personal health insurance through the program.

The Americorp grant, along with private donations, enables the crew to build at a cost that nonprofit organizations can afford. Raw materials are provided by IERR.

“The service team is a great model for teens in crisis and it’s a great service. The affordable housing community is lucky to have them,” Reiber said.

There are only a few programs of this kind in the nation, Reiber said.

Inland Empire Residential Services has built 144 houses around the state primarily for people who are developmentally disabled.

Such homes are in demand. In 1999 there were about 650 people in Spokane County on a waiting list for family support or residential services, Rieber said.

That doesn’t account for people still living with their parents and who aren’t yet identified by the system.

The residential service was founded by parents and caregivers because there was no long-term affordable housing program in place for people who are developmentally disabled.

The residents at the houses on Martin Street will be referred from the state Department of Social and Health Services based on family input, special needs and roommate compatibility.

A housing contract designed by IERR describes 50 years of affordable housing at 30 percent of the tenants personal income, “so people on a fixed income have a fixed monthly rent and don’t have to worry about displacement,” Reiber said.

“Eviction is not a word in our vocabulary,” he said.