The process of finding an apartment is intimidating in itself. And finding an accessible apartment at that was even more challenging than I thought. My boyfriend and I moved to KC in December but started looking relatively early for places to live because we knew it was going to take a while to find what I needed, especially in an area we didn’t know at all. We didn’t have very many options to begin with because we wanted to be in a certain area for his work, and then when you narrow down to ADA apartments or first floor, they become even more limited.
We visited Liberty one time before we moved here. Jacob was still in school at the time, so the pressure was on to find something we liked and that we could see ourselves living in for the next couple of years. I knew the things I was looking for included being on a lower level, having wide doors for my wheelchair to fit through, an elevator if there wasn’t an option to be on a lower level, and having a walk-in shower. Believe it or not, it was hard to even find those couple of things. I ended up scheduling four places in total, and two of them I already knew weren’t going to work, but I scheduled them anyway, just in case they had something they were not showing on their website. Unfortunately, I was right. They had ADA apartments, but didn’t have an elevator to get to them.
It is funny too because everyone’s version of ADA apartment is different and I don’t think it should be that way. There should be someone on the contracting team when they build these apartments, that has a lived experience so they at least have an idea of what to look out for and what to avoid.
Anyways, we ended up finding one in Liberty that we liked; it didn’t have everything on my list, but it was a top choice compared to all the other ones for many reasons, besides being accessible in a lot of different ways. We are not on the first floor, but the complex has an elevator, it has lower countertops and roll-in sinks in the bathroom, as well as grab bars in the shower and near the bathroom. It also had higher toilets. At the end of the day, it was a win, and we needed to find something as soon as we could.
What has been your experience with finding a home or apartment that has to be ADA. Was it difficult or easy? Were you prepared or have a list of must haves?
