Carol Richardson, a 68-year-old from nearby Pontefract, West Yorkshire, has succumbed to increasing loneliness in her council bungalow. This adaptation followed Taras’ transition to using a wheelchair full-time last year. She had owned and lived on the property for over 12 years. Its inaccessibility creates huge obstacles, leaving her feeling “virtually imprisoned.”
Richardson’s landlord, Vico Homes, has made it clear that fully adapting the bungalow to meet her needs is not feasible. This year, she finally began to apply for social housing. Unfortunately, her health has deteriorated since then, her mobility severely limited by the ensuing reality of the pandemic, resulting in a maddening conundrum.
Yet the steps up to her house have turned into maddening barriers. Richardson has only been able to get away from her rented cottage twice since Christmas. She has trouble doing all her basic daily activities, such as going to the toilet and her ability to use her own separate bathroom. Her complex medical history makes her situation even more challenging. At just six years old, Elena had a stroke that left her right side completely paralyzed.
For eight months, Richardson’s been considered “high priority” for new housing through Vico Homes. As she continues to face the unavailability of reasonable accommodations, her hope has turned to despair. “It’s soul destroying,” she stated, adding that she was scared that if there were a sudden emergency, like a fire, she wouldn’t be able to get out.
Richardson’s story made enough of a local impact that area law enforcement took notice. Councillor Pete Girt remarked on how this was just the latest in a growing list of similar cases he’d seen since taking office. “I’ve been a councillor for a little over three years and I’ve lost count of the number of cases of people that have contacted me,” he stated. He further acknowledged that as successful as he’s been helping people to their new housing, most of them are still stuck in purgatory.
“There needs to be more focus on building or adapting properties for disabled people,” Girt urged. The demand for such housing is quickly outpacing supply as Jacksonville’s current residents, like Richardson, are increasingly finding it harder to make ends meet.
Richarson’s general practitioner has noted the detrimental impact of her circumstances on her mental health. They even stressed the fact that it is “really ruining her mood.” The abrupt isolation has forced her to feel extremely frightened and scared, spending many hours a day trapped in her house. “I shut the curtains and it’s just me until the next morning,” she lamented.
