WheelPad was featured in the article "Accessible Tiny Homes May Be an Affordable Alternative to Assisted Living" in the Brain & Life magazine. The article highlights how WheelPad's SuitePAD and StudioPAD units can provide options to many people who are in need of an accessible living space.
The article also profiles two SuitePAD users and how it helped them. Thank you to Leigh Woodruff and Kevin Oliver for sharing your stories and helping to demonstrate how the SuitePAD has helped you to create accessible living spaces in your community with your loved ones.
Read Leigh's excerpt below -
One of WheelPad's customers is Leigh Woodruff, who broke his neck in a mountain bike accident in February 2022 and became completely paralyzed. He spent five months in a hospital in Englewood, CO, and another nine months in a rehabilitation center and as part of a clinical research trial at the University of Washington in Seattle. By the time he was discharged, Woodruff was able to walk “slowly” and had limited use of his arms and hands—and needed a place to stay. His sister and brother-in-law, who live on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, wanted to take him in, but their house couldn't accommodate his needs.
After some research, Woodruff, who is now 55, leased a SuitePAD for 18 months for $3,250 a month, which he paid for through his Social Security benefits and a pension from a long career at the Environmental Protection Agency. “It really worked for me,” says Woodruff, who has weakness in his arms and left hand. Living a few feet from his sister's house, he knew he had help next door if he needed it, but he also had autonomy and privacy.
Often lost in discussions on larger housing issues, accessible housing is in particularly short supply. With 13 percent of Americans currently living with a disability and a growing population of older adults, maintaining the current levels of housing able to accommodate wheelchairs (only 1%) is not feasible. Creating more accessible and universally designed living accommodations should be at the forefront of the housing conversations across the country.
WheelPad, and companies like ours, are working to create a more affordable and sustainable options for anyone who is in need of an accessible living space so that people living with disabilities have more options and stay connected to their communities so they can thrive.
Read the full article on the Brain & Life website.
Illustration on this page by Jeannie Phan