CARL BROWN, MICHAEL YOUNG AND PAUL HASSAN are like any roommates sharing a home. Each of the bedrooms reflects its owner: Carl, 29, has a prominent stereo, the better to harmonize with his favorite R&B; Michael, 28, spends hours on his computer, searching the Internet; and Paul, 36, decorated his walls with family photos.

The only difference is that each of these men is confined to a wheelchair by cerebral palsy, and this sunny, yellow house on a quiet Culver City street has been converted for complete disabled access by H.O.M.E. (Home Ownership Made Easy). An affiliate of the Westside Regional Center, H.O.M.E. is dedicated to creating stable, affordable, safe housing for adults with developmental disabilities, such as mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism, and epilepsy.

Since its founding in 1987 by concerned parents and friends, H.O.M.E. has employed a creative mix of government grants and private funding to purchase 35 properties (and growing) on the Westside, including apartments, condominiums, and single-family homes. It rents these homes at below-market rates to 93 tenants, most of whom are on fixed incomes, and previously lived in crowded group homes and restrictive developmental centers, with aging relatives or in substandard and inaccessible housing.

Given the chance to strike out on their own, H.O.M.E. clients blossom. They hold part-time jobs, attend skill-building programs, go to school, shop for groceries, pay bills - "things most people take for granted," says David Silva, H.O.M.E. executive director. "We believe with the right support, people can flourish in the community," Silva explains. At the home where Carl, Michael and Paul live, a discretely engineered wheelchair ramp leads to the front door. In the kitchen, the sink, stovetop, and cabinets have all been lowered.

Hallways have been widened, bathrooms redesigned with roll-in showers, and carpeting replaced by imitation wood flooring for increased mobility. A $75,000 grant from Weingart Foundation is funding similar improvements at a five-unit apartment complex H.O.M.E. acquired in Culver City that will house seven tenants.

Asked what they like most about living here, Carl says, "I can do anything by myself." Paul, who uses a message board to communicate through eye blinks, chooses the word, "Roommates." At his turn, Michael adds simply, "Accessibility."