Maximum Accessible Housing of Ohio

History

Maximum Accessible Housing of Ohio (MAHO) was formed in 1981 to address the need for accessible, affordable housing for people with physical mobility disabilities. Until 2007, the organization was known as Maximum Independent Living (MIL). The name was changed to reflect the focus on accessibility and housing. The mission of MAHO is to develop and/or facilitate options in housing for people with physical disabilities.

From 1981 to 1998, MAHO focused its efforts on developing the Vistas Apartment Communities in Northeast Ohio specifically designed to give people with mobility disabilities the opportunity to live on their own.

The results were five fully accessible apartment communities in Cuyahoga, Lake, and Lorain Counties that enable more than 150 people with mobility disabilities to live life to the fullest. MAHO continues to own and operate these communities.

Advocacy

In 1998, MAHO shifted focus to a leadership role in advocacy and education around accessible housing. MAHO decided to call this initiative the Accessible Housing Resource Center (AHRC). There have been multiple successes. MAHO has provided training on accessible housing to hundreds of people and organizations; a number of them have started to regularly use accessibility features. Collaboratively, MAHO was instrumental in starting the successful on-line searchable affordable housing database known as www.housingcleveland.org. MAHO serves on numerous advisory committees on local, state, and federal levels.

Collaboration
Although MAHO works successfully with many other agencies, both in the disability and housing fields, MAHO is the only agency that focuses on accessible housing. This enables MAHO to get the disability agencies to think about housing and the housing agencies to think about people with disabilities. Twenty-seven years of focusing on accessible housing have made MAHO the leader in this area in the state of Ohio. Honoring MAHO's work on behalf of people with disabilities, Executive Director Steve Hansler received Judson Smart Living Award in 2009. Learn more about the award and Steve's work at MAHO.

Read about MAHO in The Plain Dealer!
April 16, 2010, article and graphic on the Uptown development, which includes New Circle Vistas.
December 3, 2009, article discusses the Vistas Apartment Communities and New Circle Vistas.