March 28, 2024

Upstairs, Downstairs

“Hot town, summer in the city
Cruisin’ the park with my girlfriend Julie
Lookin’ around, isn’t it a pity
We can’t move folks into the Lore’s old building”

(Apologies to The Lovin’ Spoonful)

Julie Randall knows a lot about moving people with disabilities onto independent living.  She slaps an AARP Bulletin on the front seat of my car during our tour of Lexington Park Friday. The brochure is opened to a success story for homeless vets in Massachusetts.

Similar to the veterans, the disabled community also has federal funding agencies endowing housing and employment opportunities, opportunities communities have used to convert space above empty commercial  buildings into accessible living. Mostly, this requires an elevator, wider doors, bigger bathrooms and investment for these residents to businesses in the space downstairs. The  tour started at Lore’s Lodgings, which already has apartments upstairs and storefronts down:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBjFoy8nhYQ]

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