WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE
Girl gets freedom in new home
While a new home by Cardel Homes is designed and equipped with features that will support the daily needs of a person in a wheelchair and their family, it accomplishes something even more meaningful.
As Clare Jackson’s father Spencer Jackson puts it: “She’s going to gain freedom within this house, freedom that she’s never had in the past.
“That, to a parent, is priceless.” Nine-year-old Clare suffered a massive stroke shortly before she was born. She has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, scoliosis and other severe medical challenges including bilateral hip dysplasia and Sotos syndrome.
The Jacksons are fond of their current home.
“For the average family of five, it’s no problem,” says Spencer.
“We could have lived here for the rest of our lives.”
But the lack of accessible features, particularly as Clare grows, is challenging.
“The simple task of putting a child in a bathtub is easy when they’re small,” Spencer says.
“But when she’s close to 90 pounds ... lifting her up over a bathtub is a difficult task.”
In their current house, the wheelchair stays on the main level and Spencer and his wife Jadi carry her up and down the stairs about 10 times a day.
While Clare has mobility limitations, “her mind is sharp and she wants be part of the action,” Spencer says. “So when her brother is upstairs, she wants to be upstairs hanging out with him.”
Hallways and doorways not designed for wheelchairs have been trouble spots, as well.
Spencer and Jadi — who have two other children, Anna and Cooper — turned to Cardel Homes, to explore the possibilities of a home with an elevator and accessible bathroom.
The builder embraced the project, going well beyond the Jacksons’ initial idea.
Cardel Homes constructed a new house — dubbed Clare’s House — with a multi-faceted approach to accessibility in the southwest community of Shawnee Park.
“We talked about it and said ‘that’s the right thing to do,’ and ... decided to make it happen,” says Mike Selinger, regional president for Cardel Homes.
The project was funded through a partnership with the Jacksons, Cardel trades and supplier donations, and Cardel Foundations.
“We move in with gratitude because of the help from Cardel and all of their partners, as well,” Spencer says. “The Jacksons are blown away by the scope of this project. We didn’t start out to have a house like this. Cardel Homes went over and above.”
An open house event to showcase the home was held recently.
“The whole house is accessible,” says Spencer. “Everything is bigger, wider and easier.”
It includes a central elevator that opens from two sides with direct access to Clare’s bedroom, wider hallways, a kitchen with wheelchair turning radius, a wet bathroom, developed basement with an extra bedroom for a caregiver, accessibility from the master bedroom to Clare’s bedroom for quick access, large covered deck without barriers, and a garage designed with additional space, for Clare to enter and exit vehicles.
“The elevator stops on every floor in the house, including the garage, so we don’t have to have ramps in the house,” says Spencer.
In the kitchen, “the island raises and lowers to Clare’s height in her wheelchair,” he adds. “During the open house, people were amazed that something like that could be designed and made for Clare.”
The hope is that this project will help raise awareness about the opportunities families with wheelchair accessible needs have in new home builds, says Selinger, calling both the value to the Jacksons and spotlight on these options for others, a “win-win.”
“Through this demonstration project, we’re just hoping that some people can see what can be done, see it operating and functional, and that will make it easier for them to ask, not just Cardel, but any builder, whether they ’d be able to (build) an accessible housing project,” says Selinger.
The Jacksons want the same. During the open house, about 150 people toured the home.
Among them were people in wheelchairs and couples with children in wheelchairs.
“They were looking at whether or not to renovate or build, looking for different ideas,” Spencer says, adding tours of the home will continue.
“We look at this as an opportunity to promote accessibility, as a whole,” he adds.
“It’s not just for people with disabilities or sicknesses, it’s about planning for the future.”