[nabs-l] apartment resources

[Littlefield, Tyler]

Hello:
Thanks all for your feedback. I'll explain what I've done thus far.

At the beginning of the summer last year, I wrote to Wentworth notifying 
them that I am blind and do have a dog and requested a single for the 
space, as well as the space required for my extra equipment (brailler, 
books etc). They informed me that I could have a single in a freshmen 
dorm without a kitchen or share a room with someone. they placed me with 
an RA. When space opened up, I was shifted to another room, since my RA 
gets a room to himself for being an RA. I have repeatedly asked the head 
of the housing department for a room, via email as well as in person; he 
is fully aware of the problems I had last semester. The DS office has 
similarly refused to request a single for this instance, citing again 
the freshmen dorm across the road with no kitchen that I could move to 
if I wanted a single.

Unless there is something I can actually rely on in terms of the ADA, i 
do not believe a single is an option at this point.

Thanks,
On 6/22/2014 6:11 PM, Misty Dawn Bradley via nabs-l wrote:
> Hi Ty,
> I agree with Ashley. When I was attending college and stayed in a 
> dorm, I was supposed to get a roommate, but I wrote the school's 
> housing department a letter explaining that I need a room to myself 
> because my equipment took up more room than what a sighted person 
> does. I didn't even have a dog, but I still got a room to my self on 
> those grounds, so I definitely think that you would have good grounds 
> for requesting a room to yourself because you have a dog as well. When 
> I wrote the department, I was able to get everything straightened out 
> even before the semester started, so I was able to move in to my own 
> room right when I moved in for the semester. The only thing I shared 
> was the bathroom with the girl in the room next door, but that wasn't 
> a big issue for me as long as I had the room to myself, because I had 
> my embosser, scanner, printer, and other equipment that would have 
> taken up too much space if I had a roommate. Perhaps you can talk to 
> the housing department or even the disability services office about 
> getting these types of accomodations. This may work out better, as 
> most apartments require you to have a cosigner if you don't make at 
> least three times the rent, so you may have a hard time qualifying for 
> an apartment without a full-time job and good credit and rental 
> history. This has been my number one problem with apartments, as I 
> don't meet the standard qualifications of at least three times the 
> rent, so it can be particularly hard for college students who do not 
> make that much, so if you are able to get a dorm room to yourself, it 
> may be easier to get than an apartment would be.
> Hope this helps,
> Misty
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Ashley and Landon Coleman via nabs-l
> Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2014 4:33 PM
> To: tyler at tysdomain.com ; National Association of Blind Students 
> mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] apartment resources
>
> Hi,
> If you are going to a University. Shouldn't your Disability Support
> Services department be able to get you a room to yourself? I know that
> where I am going here has a system for that especially if you have a
> dog. Those rooms are small enough with one person and a dogg. Trust me,
> I know.
> Ashley
>
>
>
>
> On 6/22/2014 5:29 PM, Littlefield, Tyler via nabs-l wrote:
>> Hello all:
>> I'm looking to get into an apartment for next semester. I found a 
>> studio for $1900 (which is about as cheap as they get without being 
>> in a pretty bad area). It turns out it ends up to be around $3200 
>> extra than I'd pay for staying in a dorm, which is nice but it 
>> affords me a lot more room. Here are the thoughts; perhaps someone 
>> has some thoughts.
>> I'm trying to avoid the dorm for a few reasons:
>> 1) Last two roomates were pretty rough. Spring semester my roommate 
>> (who was the RA and supposedly more responsible) would frequently 
>> drop food on the ground and let O'Mally grab it. He should have the 
>> freedom to move around the room, so it was pretty hard and he ended 
>> up sick a lot. This last roommate was polled ahead of time--he was 
>> supposed to be comfortable with dogs. Turned out he wasn't and he 
>> developed "hives" around the middle of the semester but didn't want 
>> to move. He would physically push O'Mally away from him when he got 
>> to close.
>>
>> Our beds are lofted above the desks and you can reach out and almost 
>> touch the bed across from you. This ment that O'Mally didn't have to 
>> much room to move around, it's a tight space for two people to begin 
>> with.
>>
>> This next semester, I'm going to be in the same setup room, but it 
>> will be with one extra room. This means that I'm splitting the 
>> kitchen in five and not in three. The hardest part about that is I 
>> would order my entire months worth of groceries from peapod (so it'd 
>> take like $110) and I'd get $5 delivery, which was cheaper than 
>> getting a cab up to the store and back again. The next solution would 
>> be for me to get a cart and trek a mile to and from the store, which 
>> is doable. I'm mainly worried about winters--winters in Boston can be 
>> pretty rough and getting to the store will be hard. How have people 
>> tackled this, especially in snowy weather?
>>
>> My second solution which I would greatly prefer to a tiny rectangular 
>> cell is an apartment. I do not have a cosigner that has the credit 
>> for a loan, but I'm trying to pull at least $4500 or so extra from 
>> what I usually get. Are there good resources for something like this?
>>
>> Thanks a lot for your suggestions,
>>
>


-- 
Take care,
Ty
http://tds-solutions.net
He that will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool; he that dares not reason is a slave.