New apartment building in Jefferson accessible to people with disabilities opens
Kathleen Kleinmann, chief executive officer for Tri-County Patriots for Independent Living, poses in front of the new apartment building constructed in Jefferson for people with disabilities.
Mark Berton, director of project development for Accessible Dreams, stands in the living room of the new four-unit apartment building in Jefferson designed for people with disabilities.
JEFFERSON – A brief ribbon-cutting ceremony recently was held for a new four-unit apartment building in Jefferson designed for people with disabilities.
But what made each of the 1,100-square-foot apartments more accessible to people who may use a wheelchair or have other disabilities wasn’t so obvious. Each apartment was spacious and still had that new-house smell; the distinction was only in the details.
“They (the apartments) are attractive without being obvious,” said Kathleen Kleinmann, chief executive officer for Tri-County Patriots for Independent Living, whose affiliate nonprofit organization, Accessible Dreams, developed the complex.
Kleinmann pointed out some of the details that made each apartment more accessible; the doorways and hallways were a little wider, the light switches a little lower on the wall and for the two ground-floor apartments, there were no steps.
“Everybody loves accessibility and we just want to join the group,” Kleinmann said. “We want to be a part of the community.”
The building was constructed using a concept defined as “universal design.”
This meant various appointments could be easily adapted to meet a person’s particular needs, said Mark Berton, Accessible Dreams director of project development.
He noted, as an example, stairwells to the two upstairs apartments were wide enough for a chair glide if the person living upstairs used a wheelchair. Inserts also can be easily added to the kitchen cabinets so a person could lower them to reach what they need, he said.
The building was built using modular construction which would allow it to be erected fairly quickly, Berton said. This project stretched out a little longer than anticipated, however, after a rock ledge was uncovered on the site that had to be excavated.
Accessible Dreams was formed about five years ago to address the lack of housing in the area accessible to people with disabilities. Its mission, Berton said, is to provide “barrier-free” housing to people with disabilities in places people want to live.
The group has modified existing homes to meet a person’s need as well as built new homes in any community in which a person chooses to live, he said.
The Jefferson building was constructed with a loan and with grants from the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund and the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council.
Greene County and the county redevelopment authority also were instrumental in the project, said Chad Underkoffler, Accessible Dreams information specialist. The redevelopment authority had originally purchased the property and demolished two dilapidated houses on the site before turned it over to Accessible Dreams.
Each of the apartments at the Jefferson apartment is already rented. People will begin moving in in mid-September.
Accessible Dreams also has purchased the lot next door to the new complex. It demolished the house that was there about two weeks ago and also intends to use the property for accessible housing.
The organization is now looking for funding to help with the project and preparing building plans.
“We have a waiting list” of people seeking accessible homes, Kleinmann said. “If we can build more of these, people will come.”