[IL-Talk] New Chicago housing complex designed for visually impaired

Tue Aug 30 22:44:43 UTC 2022

I will say that it is good that they are doing something with that big huge
piece of land other than leaving it as a parking lot. I am not a big fan of
large parking lots and lately it just seems like that there are more and
more of them. I find parking lots especially big ones to be unattractive.
So you know if more people would use public transportation and other means
we wouldn't need all these giant parking lots.

Robert Hansen
hansen.robert70 at gmail.com

On Tue, Aug 30, 2022, 4:37 PM Kelly Pierce via IL-Talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Bill,
>
> With most affordable housing developments these days, a local
> municipality is expected to contribute funding in order to snag state
> and federal dollars. In addition, local approvals are necessary to
> secure certain kinds of federal and state funding.  For the Lighthouse
> residences, the City of Chicago provided low income housing tax
> credits of $3.5 million and about $7.4 in loans for the development.
> The city is also using its bonding authority to issue $13 million in
> tax-exempt bonds for the development. A lot of this is pass-through
> from the state and federal government, but the city has to approve a
> project, and use its bonding authority for the Lighthouse to attract
> investors to buy the tax credits and the bonds.  If Mayor Lightfoot
> did not support the project, it would not have happened.  Overall, the
> project will receive about $45 million in loans and tax credits. This
> is in addition to an undisclosed donation from Vince Foglia, who
> founded Sage products that makes medical equipment.
>
> Any developer has to choose appliances, countertops, flor and wall
> coverings, fixtures, and lighting systems for residential units.
> Selecting blind and low-vision friendly versions of all of these items
> would add little to the cost of each unit or the development as a
> whole. I envision Each apartment will be  like the model home being
> built at the Illinois Assistive Technology Project in Springfield.
> Yes, Federation philosophy empowers blind people to learn alternative
> techniques of blindness so they are not reliant on high contrast this
> and tactically different that as well as talking devices and voice
> activated controls. I can easily afford all of this stuff and feel no
> need to use most of it. Unfortunately, not all blind people have had
> the opportunities we have had. Some rely on these approaches for their
> independence, and I am glad these individuals are independent. Others
> may just be working at the Lighthouse and want a highly affordable
> place near where they work to live and the modifications may be less
> important to them. The Lighthouse might feel a need to justify the
> uniqueness of the residences to the private donor and the government
> funders who are attracted by the blindness supportive aspects of the
> project. Realize though only about 55 percent of the units will be
> modified for blind people.
>
> I am pleased the Lighthouse has found a way to turn an empty parking
> lot into housing for blind people, many of whom are working in jobs at
> the Lighthouse earning competitive wages. A lot talk about independent
> living, economic independence, and support services to enable
> employment. This is one model of what this can look like, given
> problems with housing affordability.
>
> Kelly
>
>
>
> On 8/28/22, Kyle Chellino via IL-Talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> > Hmmm! Sounds interesting!
> >
> > On 8/28/22, Robert via IL-Talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >> Hi Bill
> >>
> >> I'm being lazy and taking advantage of your post to Il-Talk to sent you
> a
> >> msg.
> >>
> >> My question for you is: do you know if any people in the IL blind
> >> community
> >> are using MS Mail as their email client for gmail? If so, assuming they
> >> are
> >> also using JAWS, do you know what kind of success they have had?
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> Bob
> >> 309-236-6606
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: IL-Talk <il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Bill Reif via
> >> IL-Talk
> >> Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2022 3:42 PM
> >> To: il-talk at nfbnet.org
> >> Cc: Bill Reif <billreif at ameritech.net>
> >> Subject: [IL-Talk] New Chicago housing complex designed for visually
> >> impaired
> >>
> >> How is Mayor Lightfoot involved? Is the city contributing funding? What
> do
> >> people think about the modifications? Does anyone think they would be
> >> helpful enough to make living there worth considering? I have never been
> >> in
> >> a housing unit with such modifications.
> >>
> >> Cordially,
> >> Bill
> >>
> >>
> https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-news-now/new-chicago-housing-complex-designed-for-visually-impaired/
> >>
> >>
> >> Sent from Bill Reif’s iPhone
> >>
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> >
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