Charleston's disabled struggle for adequate housing

Published September 8, 2008 at 5:10 am by Ken Hawkins.

Filed in: News, Health, housing, expensive, disabilities, Affordable Housing Coalition of S.C.. References: The Post and Courier.

Charleston's disabled struggle for adequate housing

Flickr user viZZZual.com

With all the handicap parking spots I see, I’d almost never think the disabled have no shortage of services, but, of course, one needs more than a parking spot to live their life.

And The Post and Courier did a bit of digging to see what things were like in Charleston for the disabled that need housing. They start off:

The hourly wage necessary to afford a two-bedroom rental in Charleston County is $15.83 — or nearly three minimum wage jobs, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. And that’s assuming you get a fair market value rent of $823 and don’t exceed the recommended 30 percent of your income.

Now try to find an apartment in that price range with the following features: wide doors, a roll-in shower and a kitchen sink with clearance for a wheelchair.

The paper cites examples of where small grants have been able to allow the disabled to adapt existing homes to their needs, and how courting institutions that specifically focus on then needs of the disabled could help their housing situation in Charleston.

Apparently the later of the two ideas is going to be floated at a November meting of the Affordable Housing Coalition of S.C.

Head over to The Post and Courier to see what’s going on with Charleston’s housing situation.