Stories
Every day, Access for Opportunity receives requests from people who are desperately trying to find their way to independent living.
Here are some of their true stories:
Jane
Jane is 34 years old and due to a difficult birth lives with cerebral palsy. Abandoned by her family at birth she has only known life in foster homes and institutions where she was abused physically, mentally and sexually. Currently living in a nursing home, Jane is currently unemployed but also determined to work and become a contributing member of society – if only she had a place like AFO to go to.
Billy
Billy sustained a spinal cord injury in a motor vehicle accident at the age of 19. At 49 years he’s living his life as a quadriplegic and has spent the last 28 years of his life in a nursing home. An associate of Billy’s contacted AFO in their futile search for affordable wheelchair accessible housing. Financially unstable, Billy cannot afford a phone, television or radio, nor does he have access to newspapers, magazines or the Internet. Without family or friends to visit him, he lives a solitary life in a locked facility that serves the elderly, along with people who suffer from mental illness, Alzheimer’s and dementia. Unable to sit outside so he won’t upset those residents, Billy only leaves the facility if he is ill and transferred to a hospital. Billy hasn’t celebrated a birthday, Christmas or any other holiday in over 25 years because the experience is very painful for him. His story, although extreme, is not uncommon.
Stephen
Stephen, 28 years old, sustained a spinal cord injury when he was 22 and is now a paraplegic. Living with his parents in a home that is not wheelchair accessible for the last 6 years, Stephen is unable to access the bathroom to bathe or use the toilet. He can’t access the bedrooms and is forced to bathe, toilet, and sleep in the living room with very little privacy. The kitchen is not compliant and the ramp in and out of the house is too steep for him to use independently. He has been lingering on a waiting list for housing since his accident, but because he lives with his parents he is not considered a priority case and estimates it will be another five years before he is able to obtain a wheelchair accessible place of his own to call home. He told us he doesn’t want a handout – he just wants a chance.
Paul
Paul is 46 years old and was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and will need to use a wheelchair fulltime in the near future. Divorced and with no children he is alone and currently homeless. Paul lives with a sibling on a temporary basis and currently works part time. His disease is progressing, causing him to miss more and more work, and he is fearful that he will be unemployed in the near future. The home he is currently living in is not wheelchair accessible and eventually Paul will not be able to access the bathroom. He is desperate to find accessible, affordable housing in the near future.
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AFO is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Access for Opportunity
31 Folly Mill Rd
Salisbury MA 01952
(978) 388-6982
AFO@access4opp.org
