For Immediate Release:
Ashley White, Equal Rights Center, 202.370.3204
awhite@equalrightscenter.org

Equal Rights Center Adds National Accessibility Consulting Firm to Multifamily Housing Resource Program

Steven Winter Associates Joins Industry Collaboration Promoting Accessible Housing

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 8, 2011 Today the Equal Rights Center (ERC)—a national non-profit civil rights organization— announced that Steven Winter Associates, Inc. (SWA), a national architecture, engineering and building systems consulting firm based in Norwalk, Connecticut, with offices in New York City and Washington, D.C., has become the newest member of the ERC’s Multifamily Housing Resource Program (MHRP).

“The addition of SWA’s design and accessibility expertise seriously advances the MHRP’s goal of working with the housing industry, at all levels, to ensure that accessible housing is a reality,” said ERC Executive Director, Don Kahl. “SWA will add a strong and experienced voice to MHRP accessibility strategies, and will be an invaluable resource to the MHRP’s many housing developer members.”

Peter Stratton, SWA Senior Associate and Director, elaborated, “We look forward to embarking on our new partnership with the Equal Rights Center. With nearly 40 years of practical experience applying the scoping and technical requirements of accessibility laws, we are excited to serve as a resource for current MHRP members and as a catalyst for change.”

The MHRP was founded as a proactive collaboration between the ERC and multifamily housing developers to increase the number of residential housing units in the United States that are accessible to persons with disabilities, and to enhance housing industry compliance with federal, state, and local accessibility laws through the use of best practices, employee training, and collaboration with disability advocates. SWA expands this collaboration to include accessibility consulting.

Steven Winter Associates joins major multifamily developers, including AvalonBay Communities, Bozzuto Group, Camden Property Trust, Donatelli Development, Gables Residential, Kettler, Mill Creek Residential Trust, Paradigm Development Company, and Trammell Crow Residential in multi-year commitments to collaborate with the ERC to improve and ensure accessibility in multi-family housing on a national basis. MHRP developer members represent nearly 500,000 housing units across the country.

Steven Winter Associates has varied and unparalleled experience in the accessibility field as a result of its long-standing commitment to help provide equitable use of the built environment for all people. SWA works diligently with private and public clients in a range of capacities, including plan reviews, field inspections, compliance plan development and implementation, litigation consulting, construction supervision, design assistance, research and training, to help promote the goals of federal, state, and local accessibility laws and building code requirements for accessibility.

Click here to view this press release online.

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About the Equal Rights Center (www.equalrightscenter.org)
Originally formed in 1983, the Equal Rights Center (ERC) is a national non-profit civil rights organization based in Washington, D.C.  With members located in 46 states and the District of Columbia, the ERC works nationally to promote equal opportunity in housing, employment, disability rights, immigrant rights, and access to public accommodations and government services for all protected classes under federal, state, and local laws.

About Steven Winter Associates (http://www.swinter.com/)
Steven Winter Associates, Inc. is a 38-year-old architectural/engineering research and consulting firm. With offices in Norwalk, CT, New York City and Washington, D.C. SWA provides specialized expertise in technologies and procedures that improve the safety, performance, and cost effectiveness of buildings. SWA’s staff that encompasses over 65 architects, engineers, and building scientists works to make buildings safer, more energy efficient, more durable, more affordable, more accessible, and overall, more sustainable.