16 replies to this topic

[KayDub]

I'm starting to get really frustrated. I'm temporarily living with my mom while I attend law school. She lives outside the city and I can't independently commute (yes that's my fault for crashing my car, sigh). My fiance and I are also going crazy here, after living on our own for awhile. She has the best intentions in the world but tries to baby me and interfere in my medical treatment without a grasp of what's wrong with me. The icing on the cake is her house isn't accessible and she's not willing to make minor changes because she's in denial about the extent of my nerve and muscle damage. I also don't plan on living here my whole life so I'm not really pushing the issue (but I am trying to get her to get a portable ramp so I can get in and out of the house because she has two steps at the front door and in the garage, no luck so far)

Logically I've started looking for accessible housing on or around the campus where I attend school. It's in the middle of Denver, which you'd think would be good. However all the buildings withing 4 or so miles were built in the 50s and 60s and aren't accessible at all. The woman who runs Disability Services at my school is a rock star and said there is a grad student accessible apartment on campus and I might be able to get into it. I was so thrilled, my fiance could have lived with me, it was brand new and my scholarship would have covered it. But alas, an undergrad who also is in a chair got the apartment (which is frustrating because apparently some of the undergrad dorm rooms are accessible, his mom has to live with him as a carer though supposedly though). And that is the only accessible housing on the entire campus. Great that he lucked out and I'm SOL.

I started calling HUD (Housing and Urban Development), Denver Center for Independent Living, Dep of Voc Rehab, you name it. There are two accessible buildings withing a 5 mile radius of campus. Two. I started looking at one and it's great, affordable, brand new, near light rail and buses, I can live there with my fiance and it looked like we met the (low) income requirements. I was thrilled and started filling out the application. Then I looked at the fine print. Any stocks, bonds, etc. are included in your income. So while I don't make any money, my checking and savings accounts are low, but I have some investments I can't even open if I wanted to (mostly 5 year CDs and the like) so I don't qualify for the price.

All the outside agencies have said it's actually my school's responsibility to help me find accessible housing. It's beginning to affect my schooling, if I can't get rides to light rail or school I miss class. I'd even push myself the 2 miles to the bus station, then transfer then take the train for a 3 hour or more trip to school on my own if I had to, but my mom is in such a rural area it's dirt roads and no sidewalks. So that's not happening. I called the housing manager at my school and he said there's nothing he can do and I shouldn't be mad because everyone is my situation since the school is low on housing. NO SIR NOT EVERYONE IS IN MY SITUATION. Other students who can't find on campus housing can get a room in any of the million apartment complexes near campus with stairs, I cannot. He then said there's one room left at this brand new ritzy loft building near school... for $1200 a month. I can't afford that and I don't plan on taking out loans for it. I told him I was just disappointed that such a high ranking university would only have one accessible housing unit on campus and have no plans to retrofit more. He justified it saying it's never a problem so we don't need it. It was just shocking how blase he was about it.

So I'm still sans housing, but actively looking. I'm going to talk to the people at the complex for low income and see if my fiance and I could pay a higher rent and still be there.

Also does anyone find it frustrating that programs set up for people in chairs are often synonymous with low income and/or mental health issues. Yes many wheelchair users are on SSDI or other programs and have problems working and it's good to have resources for them. But some of us aren't! And because I've earned and saved money should disqualify me from the only accessible housing near my school.

Any suggestions? I could just move into the law library, there's a sweet ADA room with all sorts of equipment and no one ever goes in there. I took a nap under a table the other day with my cushion as a pillow. I'm sure no one would mind.... But no seriously, I need to find a place to live that I can get my chair into. Grrrr.

[Tetracyclone]

Never give up. Keep us posted. Have you tried a real estate agent?

[Vanessamaee]

Im sorry Im no help but I know EXACTLY how you feel. Being only 17 Voc Rehab and any other services go off my parents combined income. So I dont meet any criteria for any of them financially to recieve any of their services (help with college, driving program, housing etc) . So next year when I go to college Im pretty much SOL too... Im really glad that the campus I got accepted to is pretty accessible. They have elevators in all of their dorms, but when it comes to living in dorms, not only are the single rooms really expensive but Id rather not live by myself :/ so Im trying to figure out how well bathroom things are going to go as far as bowel program and stuff... Wish I could help! Just out of curiosity I googled accessible housing near where I live and NOTHING showed up anywhere close... yayyyy..

[wheeliebear75]

What about finding an apartment that is on the ground floor & so long as there is no more than say 4 steps to getting in the door (get a ramp that can be removed aka wont damage the rental property in any way), make sure the doorways are about 30in wide or so to fit your chair.....if you can get those things being you're in a manual wheelchair there really shouldn't have to be all THAT MUCH retrofitting.

I suggest avoiding anything but the ground floor at all costs! Reason being when ever there is a black-out elevators stop, if the building were to catch fire for some reason bye-bye elevators.....unless you have more fear of a flood swamping the 1st floor than you do of a fire or power outage than by all means.....but otherwise......TRY to avoid LIVING where you will be 100% reliant on elevators.

Sorry you guys are experiencing such a hard time finding housing.

[gramma]

I'm curious, it seems that there are so many obstacles facing SCI and other wheelchair dependent conditions. I mean, I guess it is the human rights activist in me, I lived and worked for the Red Cross/Cresent in China and Cambodia, for years, but does anyone participate in writing to their local politicians or get involved in another way to try and enact some long-term change? I know it would be like pushing an elephant uphill, but I am just curious.

[scaldedcat]

I'm sorry to hear you are having so much trouble finding suitable accomodation. You are out there furthering your education and doing all the right things, the least you would think you deserve is to find somewhere suitable to live. I admire your spirit and while your are quite rightly frustrated now, I have no doubt things will work out and you can get on with your studies without having to worry about these kinds of issues.

Take care and all the best.

[KayDub]

Tetra- I've never even thought about it. Since I'm a student who's only rented places (and never paid more than $500 a month, my last place had a styrofoam wall to split the upstairs into two rooms) I've always assumed real estate agents are for older people with more money looking for condos or more permanent housing. I'll still make some calls, no harm in trying!

Vanessa- It's such a crap situation right? I'm a little older than you, but have been in the same position for years. My mom doesn't have much money and I don't have much money but my dad does. Doesn't mean he gives it to me, but it affects all my scholarships, financial aid, SSDI, etc. I've been working since I was 16, 60 hours a week in the summer, but he still claims me on taxes. So now it's getting hard to get what I need through voc rehab too, it's frustrating! It's like we have all these adult responsibilities but aren't quite adults yet, it's not a fun rut to get stuck in.

My best friend has reallllyy severe MD and stayed in a dorm her freshman year. She needs a carer and she said she didn't have any problems. It depends on the school, I went to Brown and University of Colorado for undergrad and lived in dorms. All three I lived in were double rooms with a community bathroom. Luckily I didn't have B&B problems then but had some degenerative mobility problems already. At CU I lived in a single because I was a transfer and had just turned 21. I applied for financial aid in June (oops) and got the bottom of the barrel. I was housed with a freshman but long story short she had me buy her beer, drank it and went to stay in a hotel with her 30 year old boyfriend who had been living with her in her mom's trailer back home, but then came home the next morning and I'd had a guy over and she went and complained about me. The single was nice, I just wanted my space by then. But I'd never want to live in a single as a freshman, it would have been lonely. Part of the college experience is having a roommate for better or worse (my freshman roomie was a foot and a half shorter than me and a porn addict... we ended up living together for 2 1/2 years because she was just so out of control ha ha) Other people I've known though have had suite style dorms. My younger brother had a double room with a private bath (he always has waaaaay better housing than me, whether it's on or off campus). His shower was actually ADA accessible, not that he needed it. The newer the school the better accessible housing it'll have I think.

I wonder where there is good accessible housing... definitely not Missouri or Colorado from the sounds of it. We'll just have to build our own! You'll just have to transfer to a school in Colorado, shouldn't be too hard lol.

wheeliebear- Really great suggestions and tips. That might be what I'll have to do. I'm counting down the weeks until IU get my new manual Quickie, and the seat is only 14" so I'll be able to get through things relatively well. I'm going to revamp my game plan and start looking for houses that could more easily be retrofitted without any permanent or expensive changes. I really need to get a portable ramp anyway, I'll see if my insurance will cover it. I should have done it back in July when I was finally out of hospital and moved to my mom's.

Gramma- That's really cool! My last job was with the Australian Red Cross. I was working at their main office in Perth, doing emergency evacuation planning for all of Western Australia. It was more of an office job than anything else but I liked it. The migrant service caseworkers were below us and I really admired them. I haven't really done any political activism for disabilities myself. I used to be really involved in reproductive rights activism (I had an internship in DC and everything). Now I'm mostly involved in environmental rights, with a hydrology/geography degree and going to school for natural resources and environmental law. All that said I think the general public has two views of "disabled" people. 1) We need to be pitied and need help because we're not self sufficient. 2) We're lazy and sit at home and collect SSDI. Almost all of us are neither of these things but it's hard to fight these barriers to obtain the things we need. In this situation I understand that yes, it's hard to retrofit old homes, but I do think my school should have more than one accessible apartment. I'm a first year on an academic scholarship though so I don't want to ruffle too many feathers either. And that's my laundry list of excuses for not being more proactive politically. I think I'm just jaded.

And thanks everyone else!!

[wheeliebear75]

gramma, on 11 September 2011 - 02:24 AM, said:

I'm curious, it seems that there are so many obstacles facing SCI and other wheelchair dependent conditions. I mean, I guess it is the human rights activist in me, I lived and worked for the Red Cross/Cresent in China and Cambodia, for years, but does anyone participate in writing to their local politicians or get involved in another way to try and enact some long-term change? I know it would be like pushing an elephant uphill, but I am just curious.

People have been writing & fighting for this stuff....that's why there is such a thing as disabled housing in the 1st place. There is more need than slots I'm afraid.....there are more & more of us & we're less & less content to live our lives from nursing homes. But for a LOT of us....ground-floor apartments can be made useable.

[wheeliebear75]

KayDub, on 11 September 2011 - 05:02 AM, said:

Tetra- I've never even thought about it. Since I'm a student who's only rented places (and never paid more than $500 a month, my last place had a styrofoam wall to split the upstairs into two rooms) I've always assumed real estate agents are for older people with more money looking for condos or more permanent housing. I'll still make some calls, no harm in trying!

Vanessa- It's such a crap situation right? I'm a little older than you, but have been in the same position for years. My mom doesn't have much money and I don't have much money but my dad does. Doesn't mean he gives it to me, but it affects all my scholarships, financial aid, SSDI, etc. I've been working since I was 16, 60 hours a week in the summer, but he still claims me on taxes. So now it's getting hard to get what I need through voc rehab too, it's frustrating! It's like we have all these adult responsibilities but aren't quite adults yet, it's not a fun rut to get stuck in.

My best friend has reallllyy severe MD and stayed in a dorm her freshman year. She needs a carer and she said she didn't have any problems. It depends on the school, I went to Brown and University of Colorado for undergrad and lived in dorms. All three I lived in were double rooms with a community bathroom. Luckily I didn't have B&B problems then but had some degenerative mobility problems already. At CU I lived in a single because I was a transfer and had just turned 21. I applied for financial aid in June (oops) and got the bottom of the barrel. I was housed with a freshman but long story short she had me buy her beer, drank it and went to stay in a hotel with her 30 year old boyfriend who had been living with her in her mom's trailer back home, but then came home the next morning and I'd had a guy over and she went and complained about me. The single was nice, I just wanted my space by then. But I'd never want to live in a single as a freshman, it would have been lonely. Part of the college experience is having a roommate for better or worse (my freshman roomie was a foot and a half shorter than me and a porn addict... we ended up living together for 2 1/2 years because she was just so out of control ha ha) Other people I've known though have had suite style dorms. My younger brother had a double room with a private bath (he always has waaaaay better housing than me, whether it's on or off campus). His shower was actually ADA accessible, not that he needed it. The newer the school the better accessible housing it'll have I think.

I wonder where there is good accessible housing... definitely not Missouri or Colorado from the sounds of it. We'll just have to build our own! You'll just have to transfer to a school in Colorado, shouldn't be too hard lol.

wheeliebear- Really great suggestions and tips. That might be what I'll have to do. I'm counting down the weeks until IU get my new manual Quickie, and the seat is only 14" so I'll be able to get through things relatively well. I'm going to revamp my game plan and start looking for houses that could more easily be retrofitted without any permanent or expensive changes. I really need to get a portable ramp anyway, I'll see if my insurance will cover it. I should have done it back in July when I was finally out of hospital and moved to my mom's.

Gramma- That's really cool! My last job was with the Australian Red Cross. I was working at their main office in Perth, doing emergency evacuation planning for all of Western Australia. It was more of an office job than anything else but I liked it. The migrant service caseworkers were below us and I really admired them. I haven't really done any political activism for disabilities myself. I used to be really involved in reproductive rights activism (I had an internship in DC and everything). Now I'm mostly involved in environmental rights, with a hydrology/geography degree and going to school for natural resources and environmental law. All that said I think the general public has two views of "disabled" people. 1) We need to be pitied and need help because we're not self sufficient. 2) We're lazy and sit at home and collect SSDI. Almost all of us are neither of these things but it's hard to fight these barriers to obtain the things we need. In this situation I understand that yes, it's hard to retrofit old homes, but I do think my school should have more than one accessible apartment. I'm a first year on an academic scholarship though so I don't want to ruffle too many feathers either. And that's my laundry list of excuses for not being more proactive politically. I think I'm just jaded.

And thanks everyone else!!

If you find that the wheelchair can ALMOST get through any inner doorways; taking off the door with a screw driver or drill at the hinges, placing it/them in a closet or other storage room etc. for safe keeping, then you can use a spring loaded shower curtain & rod for some "privacy" (obviously any sounds and/or smells can & will be heard by people in nearby rooms without the DOOR to muffle).

[tsh3406]

I feel your pain too, friend, yeah, Missouri sucks. I'm surprised you are having that trouble in CO. I haven't really decided for sure where I want to be or do in the next five years, but have about decided I'm just going to have to build a house. I don't want to, because I feel that it is a very committed decision to make. Finding apartments that are accessible is a rediculous job, and it's even harder to find a house to rent. I've lived in several different cities in MO and KS, and it's like you said, anything accessible has that low-income tag attached to it. I HATE that. They are SO small too, barely enough room to turn around. The universal design concept is starting to catch on though, in some places. Last time I visited AZ, I considered renting a vacation home for a month, it was about the same as hotels for 10 days. I was impressed with how many of them were accessible. I cannot wait for the day I can get a California King and really stretch out, or be able to have a kitchen table that can seat 6 people, or a bathroom with his and her's sinks, lol....

Tim

[jdub]

@KayDub, when I did my undergraduate, my College put in a roll-in shower and automatic door openers into one of their on-campus apartments, which was great. However for grad school, the university had only 1 dorm (with limited accessibility) for graduate students, and most students live off-campus. So I scoured Baltimore for accessible housing and the results were upsetting. The only apartments with roll-in showers were a handful of retirement communities (many of those had waitlists) and some section 8 Public housing in sketchy neighborhoods (again, waitlists plus security issues). So I ended up buying a portable roll-in shower from Fawssit. Having a portable roll-in shower allowed me to get a regular apartment downtown, granted I am on the 23rd floor. As for elevators, there are 3 banks of them so chances are 1 should be working. And we already had an Earthquake AND hurricane with no power outage. Also, the apartment management put in some wood flooring in my bedroom, since my lift is on wheels and is difficult to use on carpet.

[Imlovingit]

Just an FYI about financial aid and Pell Grants. There is a special circumstances form that you can fill out, which will usually get you a substantially larger amount of money. When I first started school, my mother had been married, but got divorced, however she still had to use the taxes from the marriage. I would have gotten much more money, but my personal income was still too high because of an old job. The last time I went back I had my old job on my taxes, but I had taken a much lower paying job, just for the experience in light of the education budget cuts (I figured I could get a job at any school with this experience), anyways I filled out the form and I believe I got about 2,000 extra. Most colleges won't tell you about it right off the bat, so it never hurts to ask! I have a friend that lives in Denver who is a quad, and his apartment is accessible, I have a feeling that it may be pretty expensive though....

[tomsov]

check into the grandfather laws. american disabilities act was introduced in the early 1980's. at this point any public building should make accommodations if renovated. especially schools. also i go to the art institute for interior design specifically for ada accessibility. the first thing they told me to do was to find the councilor that dealt with learning disabilities and permenant ones to see if any modifications were needed to attend. however some of the things like zero barier showers hoyer lifts and things like that won't be available. there are a couple of sites for illinois that i know about that go after people that don't make accommodations. keep looking. if there is a will there is a way. get it done.

check into the grandfather laws. american disabilities act was introduced in the early 1980's. at this point any public building should make accommodations if renovated. especially schools. also i go to the art institute for interior design specifically for ada accessibility. the first thing they told me to do was to find the councilor that dealt with learning disabilities and permenant ones to see if any modifications were needed to attend. however some of the things like zero barier showers hoyer lifts and things like that won't be available. there are a couple of sites for illinois that i know about that go after people that don't make accommodations. keep looking. if there is a will there is a way. get it done.

[Tetracyclone]

have you tried using craigslist? I found my sublet this Summer that route. It required some sifting, but perhaps the BF could do that part.

[Ginny]

Kay, I sure hate to hear of these troubles, but certainly can relate. It seems that there is a niche for some disability cases. However, if you have assets from your former life, but not enough to live on and have the audacity to get out there and carve out a future for yourself so that you don't have to remain on the public dole, a person just falls through the cracks. I'm also in favor of you looking at traditional housing. We live in a split level ranch, with most of the rooms on the main floor. I as able to live in the house last winter, when I was in a wheelchair, with only the modification of adding a ramp. Some of the doorways were a little tight, so we removed the doors in some places. It was no big deal. You know what to look for...bathroom large enough to accommodate your chair, open style kitchen, all on one floor, smooth flooring. Our house would not have been labeled as 'accessible', however we made it work quite well. Good luck!

[raybonda]

I HAD MY HOUSE LISTED ON ACCESSIBLE PROPERTY REGISTER IN UK.......
http://www.accessible-property.org.uk/
TRY LOOKING THERE
RAY

Edited by raybonda, 28 November 2011 - 10:18 PM.

[Mary-Anne]

While it will not solve the immediate problem, people are putting together a google map of accessible apartments, and, eventually, we hope, what you need will be listed there.

http://maps.google.c...f999441bb92ba26