City Program Helps Make Houses More Accessible
By Meyer, Karen; WLS-TV,Publication Date: December 17, 2009
Video news segment features a home modification program for people with disabilities in the city of Chicago. The program, initiated in the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) in 1992, provides financial assistance with interior and exterior home modifications to the city’s low and moderate income residents with disabilities who are under the age of 59. Accessible features can be added to homes and apartments with a cost cap of 10,000 dollars. Modifications include exterior lifts and ramps, stair glides to a second floor, and modifications to kitchens and bathrooms. According to the MOPD commissioner interviewed, 60 to 75 homes a year are made accessible under the program. Included in the video is an interview with a young man disabled from a motorcycle accident for whom an exterior vertical platform lift was installed; the program also provided him with a new wheelchair and a communication device. More information about the MOPD HomeMod program can be found at http://www.cityofchicago.org/disabilities. The video segment is captioned, and the reporter also signs using American Sign Language while speaking.
Published by: ABC News (Website:http://abcnews.go.com)
Link to text: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/disability_issues&id=7175995
Link to video: https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Audio/Braille_Monitor/2009/November/05_Tactile_Access_To_The_Iphone_Is_Here.mp3
