Wanda Riley
Deaf and Deaf Blind Committee on Human Rights (DDBCHR)
Cleveland, OH
Hello, My name is Wanda Riley, I am from Columbia, South Carolina. I have a thirteen year old son with Cerebral Palsy who is confined to a wheelchair. I would like to share my story about the housing rights violations that we are experiencing right now.
We have lived public housing for the last eleven years. Our apartment is very small for two of us. The space in each room is difficult for my son’s wheelchair move around in and to get through the doors.
“I have been badgering the Housing Authority for four years for a larger apartment but they continue to ignore my son's housing rights, accessibility rights, and our right to adequate living standards”
The apartment’s windows are not updated and do not meet the fire code standards. The apartment is too small for either of us to get out if there was a fire blocking the door.
When my son was a younger, I was able to lift him back and forth from his wheelchair to the bedroom, living room and give him baths.
Giving my son a bath is a very difficult task for me getting him into the tub and then pulling him out without slipping because the tub is very deep, unsafe, and very old.
My son is growing and getting heavier for me to lift. Four years ago my son got a larger wheelchair. The new wheelchair is not able to fit through the doorways into the bedrooms and bathroom in our apartment. I contacted my case worker at the Housing Authority, letting her know that the apartment is too small for my son’s accessibility needs, but many months later we are still in same positions of struggling with Housing Authority to get a larger more accessible apartment.
I have been badgering the Housing Authority for four years for a larger apartment but they continue to ignore my son’s housing rights, accessibility rights, and our right to adequate living standards.