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THE CITY OF East Pleasanton Specific Plan Public Comments pL£AS4NTONe From: PENELOPE WONG Sent: Monday, November 11,2019 7:47 AM To: Mayor and City Council<citycouncil@cityofpleasantonca.gov> Subject: Need for affordable housing-adults with Developmental Disabilities Dear City Council, I am writing to you to address the need for affordable housing for people with developmental disabilities and the opportunity you have to include such housing in your development plans for East Pleasanton. Our family moved Pleasanton in 2003 where our daughter Emily has matriculated through the Pleasanton Unified School District as a special education student and graduated in 2017. Our family considers Pleasanton our home and do not have any plans to leave the Tri-Valley. Emily is currently a participant at the Futures Explored Film Workshop where she has been fortunate to have the unique opportunity to be able to learn and develop new, employable skills in the TV and media industry. In looking at options for adult living,there seems to be few options near our home. When you look at the larger statistics about the lack of affordable housing for other adults like her,the likelihood she will be able to live independently in the only community she knows is very low. Statistics include: • Housing units needed by 2023 to meet the demand of adults with developmental disabilities who wish to live independently include 233 for people currently living in Pleasanton with another 5,500 across Alameda County. • There are 471 Regional Center clients in Pleasanton; 1,446 Regional Center clients in the Tri- Valley area. • The turnover in the developmental disability housing that is already in Pleasanton is extremely low, as residents expect to age in place. • REACH currently owns and operates 11 homes in Tri-Valley; 6 in Pleasanton. Although REACH recently purchased 2 townhomes in Livermore (housing for 6 adults), it was the first purchase in the last 10 years due to the high real estate costs in this area. • The REACH waitlist has 77 people and, as mentioned earlier,the Sunflower Hill waitlist is in the hundreds. • 8 out of 10 adults with developmental disabilities live on a fixed income of less than $900/month. Our family appreciates your consideration to this future need in Pleasanton. Sincerely, Penelope and Andrew Wong Provided to City Council for the February 18, 2020, Meeting