64 Year Old Disabled Woman Seeks Grant For Handicap Accessible Bathroom
by Joyce Tolbert
Who smiles bigger?
In 2008 I bought a duplex in a small town in North Central Texas. I live in one side and rent the other side to a wonderful couple who help me whenever they can. He too is disabled. I could not get the rent the realtor said I could because of the economy at the time. But the rent does help pay the mortgage payment every month. I got a few good royalty checks in 2008; but at the end of the year found out that the company that sends my checks doesn't withhold income taxes. I hadn't noticed this in all the numbers listed on their page of data. So when April 15 2009 came around; and my checks had fallen to about 1/4 of their amount in 2008, Uncle Sam wanted his part regardless of what my checks were in 2009. So started the vicious cycle of paying Uncle Sam most of the amount of my royalty checks in 2009. In April of 2010; I finally got IRS paid for my 2008 taxes and got my first quarterly payment made toward my 2010 taxes. I was only able to pay a small payment toward my 2009 taxes in April 2010. Also I've had major repairs to my car the last two years making it worth well over the blue book value. I have to keep this car because it is already rigged with all the rigging for the wheelchair lift on the back of it and all the other accessories I've had to add to enable me to get around. So there went another big chunk of my earnings and I wasn't able to put much into savings. My renters were supposed to pay a deposit on the place; but after doing yard work and a lot of other work around here for me I told them that their deposit was paid. That was worth more to me than money. The bathrooms are the only things I don't understand about this house. Everything else is nice and a good size but the bathrooms are tiny and very inaccessible especially for anyone handicapped. I can't even get a walker into the master bathroom. I have braces on both legs from the knees down. I have rheumatoid arthritis in both hands and feet and I have degenerative joint disease and arthritis and diabetic neuropathy all over my body. Most of the time I get around in a power chair though I do some walking inside my house where I have something to grab onto if I start to fall. However I'm going to have to have neck surgery, possibly in the not-too-distant future. At present, with all my medical and pharmacy bills and paying Uncle Sam along with day-to-day bills that everyone has, I can't afford to get my bathrooms made handicap-accessible. Also I am unable to do the work as I once could. I would appreciate it if I could get a grant or help of any kind to update my bathrooms and make them accessible to my power chair especially for the time when I won't be able to walk even in my house. Thank you.
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