State program aids family
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
By JIM DANKO
jdanko@repub.com
AGAWAM – Until recently, Kaitlyn M. Chevalier, who uses a wheelchair, was unable to join her family for meals at the kitchen table.
A wall between the family room and kitchen created a space in the sitting area that was too tight for Chevalier, 18, so she sat in a spot in the kitchen away from the table.
What’s more, the kitchen floor was a step higher than the family room floor. The Chevaliers installed an aluminum ramp, and family members had to push her from one room to the next.
“It wasn’t easy,” her father, Ronald G. Chevalier Jr., said on Sunday from the family’s home at 39 Forest Road.
But with help from a state program, the Chevaliers have been able to pay for modifications. Chevalier said the family obtained a $30,000 loan at 3 percent interest to add a ramp to the front of their home, widen doorways, take down walls and install a lift to help Chevalier use her bed and bath.
The renovations were completed between spring and August, he said. They were allowed to hire the contractor of their choice and picked Mark Pagios Construction, of West Springfield, Chevalier said.
“Modifications like these can make all the difference in the lives of the elderly, adults and children with disabilities,” said Deborah L. Broaden, director of homeownership services for HAPHousing, a housing and homeownership agency for Hampden and Hampshire counties which administers the state loan program in the Springfield area.
The state loans range from $1,000 to $30,000. The program offers 0 percent to 3 percent deferred payment loans, depending on household income.
Homeowners with disabilities, or who live with household members who have disabilities, are eligible. Landlords with tenants with disabilities may also apply for the loans, according to HAPHousing. Prior to the renovations, Ronald Chevalier said he had to lift his daughter into the bathtub. The house was not designed for someone who uses a wheelchair, so the doorways needed to be expanded to 36 inches wide and lifts were installed.
“We just opened up the house as much as we could,” Chevalier said.
Chevalier, a reservist who works at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, and his wife, Kelly M., a nurse at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, have two other children, Rebecca M., 19, Kevin P., 15.
Kaitlyn Chevalier, who suffers from a seizure disorder and a neuromuscular disease called mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, has developmental disabilities that leave her unable to speak. She was able to walk until about three years ago, when she started using a wheelchair, her father said.
Like most teenagers, she enjoys watching movies and listening to music.
The modifications to her bedroom, which included the tearing down of a wall to double the size of the room, allowed her parents to install a large-screen television on the wall, her father said.
“Some of these subtle differences make a huge impact on our lives. Just the space alone,”
Chevalier said from his daughter’s modified bedroom. “We just opened up the house as much as we could. This was a help from a mobility standpoint. With this space here, we can create a more stimulating environment.”
HAPHousing and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission administer the Home Modification Loan Program in Western Massachusetts.
Residents of Agawam, Chicopee, Holyoke, Northampton, Springfield, West Springfield and Westfield interested in the program should contact HAP for more information. People living in all other Western Massachusetts communities should contact the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
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