Affordable, accessible housing a difficult need to fill

Finding affordable housing is hard enough. But factor in accessibility for people who have disabilities, and the search gets even tougher.

The hourly wage necessary to afford renting a two-bedroom apartment in Charleston County is $15.83 — or nearly three minimum wage jobs, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. And that's assuming you get a fair market value rent of $823 and don't exceed the recommended 30 percent of your income.

Now try to find an apartment in that price range with the following features: wide doors, a roll-in shower and a kitchen sink with clearance for a wheelchair.

Agnes Brown, 90, waited about four months to move into Lincolnville Garden Apartments. That's a short time compared to the two or three years people waited a few years ago, said Montez Martin, executive director of Charleston County Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

About one in five Americans are disabled, and more than 800,000 in South Carolina have a disability, said Ernie Tate, vice chair of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's government relations committee. The unemployment rate for working age adults with a disability is 70 percent.

"It's not just accessibility issues. They can't afford a home either," he said. "If people would just understand what an issue this is. Forty-two percent of us can't afford a two-bedroom apartment. That's pretty scary."

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.