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Modifications Can Make Apartment Life Convenient and Accessible by Bethany Broadwell

When three friends decided to move from the dorms at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater into an apartment, they knew they might encounter a few challenges: The just-right place they sought had to accommodate three tenants with neuromuscular disease.

The Art of Self-Advocacy

“We needed space for not just one, but three, power wheelchairs,” explained Michael Chaloupka, 21, who has spinal muscular atrophy type 2. He and his roommates, Matt Strzyzewski, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and Lauren Oftedahl, SMA2, went into the search with a positive attitude because they knew other university students with disabilities who were living in apartments in Whitewater.

Strzyzewski took Max, his service dog, to an initial apartment search appointment. The representative from the rental company immediately said the 90-pound golden retriever/standard poodle mix wouldn’t be allowed in the units. This reaction prompted the students to seek the help of advocacy agencies.

Once the landlord understood the legal requirement permitting service animals into housing, the trio was pleased to discover a 900- to 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom unit that would work for them, complete with a roll-in shower and cutouts below the sinks and cabinets. It was located directly across the street from their campus.

The only additions they needed were electric door openers for the entrance of the building and for their unit. Chaloupka said they signed the lease without discussing this matter explicitly, because nearly all the rental property in the college town was already occupied.

Chaloupka, Strzyzewski and Oftedahl moved into their apartment on May 20, 2006. After four months of

negotiating with the property owner for the modifications, the three roommates, with help from a Department of Vocational Rehabilitation counselor, came up with approximately $5,000 to fund the openers and their installation.

A few holes had to be drilled into the doorframes and doors to accommodate power and other cables for the openers, but the devices can be removed when the renters leave.

“My roommates and I have been through quite a saga with all of this,” Chaloupka said. “I’m glad it happened, though, as I learned a ton about self-advocacy and being my own voice.”

He added, “I obviously live in a

 

Michael Chaloupka (left), Matt Strzyzewski, Lauren Oftedahl and Max the service dog found state funds to add electric door openers to their apartment.