55 Year Old Diabetes Disabled Man Seeks Grant Money For Accessible Home Repair
by Charles Amundson
There is no one to blame as I never stumbled, tripped, or in any way suffered through another's neglect or fault. It turns out that due to diabetes I have something called Sharkos syndrome. This is a disorder where the minerals leach out of the bones, causing the anklebones to become brittle and break. This also meant that the pins and screws the orthopedic surgeon used to attempt to put my ankle back together would not stay in the bones. On April 27th my right leg was amputated approximately three inches above the ankle. Having been on disability before the surgery I do not have savings enough to make the home my wife and I own handicap accessible. The labor and materials involved would total somewhere around $17,000 to $20,000 in order to widen interior and exterior doors, make the bathroom accessible, add the ramp and make the kitchen navigable to me while either in a wheelchair or on a prosthesis. I am trying to get funding and have found an agency that will make a grant of 70% of the cost of having a ramp built up to a total of $4,000. Another offers to cover and I quote, ‘A portion of the labor' for said ramp. The USDA Rural Development program offers a 1 percent loan to help, but the home is already mortgaged and our income is very limited with an income of $1011 per month between my wife and myself. I am asking anyone who has information on how to overcome this hurdle without going into debt to the point of losing the home due to our inability to make our payments to post the information here. Charles Amundson Fairview, Montana
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