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Right now I’m in Fostrian Nursing Home in Flushing.
Not really where I want to be,
but I mean it’s an alright facility,
care’s good.
There’s an apartment open right now, so.
Olivia: And is it an affordable apartment?
Terry: Yes, it’s income based. I did a…
oh, God, I searched for on the computer
and I did searches for affordable housing.
And through DHS they gave me a list in
Lapeer County, so. Course I have to call,
get the applications, help filling them out,
all the paperwork.
It’s just, oh my God,
it’s a headache and a big ol’ mess.
Because first you gotta apply,
get on the waiting list,
wait anywhere from three months to a year,
and if it’s over a year you gotta reapply
to get on the waiting list.
Some places if it’s over six months
you have to reapply.
Olivia: How long have you been trying to…?
Terry: Searching?
Since before I would up in the nursing home,
which I would up there in January.
I would up in the hospital in December.
I want to say almost two years I’ve been…
it’s a process of finding the agencies
to help me, finding the programs and stuff.
Because my mom got paid for taking care
of me through Home Help Provider.
I didn’t know that they would pay
an agency if I was on my own.
See, nobody informed me of extra
programs that were available to me.
I knew nothing about VAAA,
which would help transition from
a nursing home setting to an apartment or housing.
Getting into the apartment, yeah,
I filled out the application for it
almost a year ago
and now I’m at the top of the list
and a one bedroom ground floor apartment
is available, so.
Yep.
It’s a matter of just hustle-hustle now
because I’ve got to have the application
back in within a week.
[sighs]
You know, and a lot of the affordable housing,
like In Lapeer County,
is older buildings.
They fall under the grandfather claws of the ADA,
so they don’t have to update them
and they’re not accessible for wheelchairs.
And doorways are too narrow
or bathrooms are too small.
Rooms period are too small.
That’s what I’ve been running into
in a lot of the rural areas, even in the more
urban areas have got the same problem.
That’s what makes it harder for accessible.
Even anything on the market,
when you put a handicap in front of it
the price is so high.
And anybody low income can’t afford it,
can’t afford any of the assistive technology
out now.
Especially for recreation.
Mounts for cameras or guns
or anything like that is just so expensive.
I know I can’t afford it, getting just SSI.
No way.
And the way the economy is now,
people have blown their savings and lost
their homes or something happened.
They had to take care of grandma or whatever
someone got cancer or an accident in the family
to where they’ve lost their whole savings.
And now they’re going from two paychecks
down to one or nothing.
It takes a toll.
For individual or family housing,
we need something more affordable.