Disability rights activist Luticha Doucette calls the lack of accessible housing in Rochester a dire situation.
"When I did some research last year, I only found 15 available units," she said.
Fewer than 5% of homes in the United States have basic accessibility features, according to a 2022 Harvard University study.
Accessible homes have features like zero step entries, wider doorways, and other modifications to allow people with disabilities or limited mobility to live independently.
This week, Doucette and real estate agent Dani Polidor organized a training course in Rochester for housing professionals to learn about the latest advances in the field. It was led by the Nebraska-based Construction Education Consortium.
"The crux of this course is to have to minimize accidents that happen at home, and also how to heal in a home after those accidents and or changes in your ability have happened," Polidor explained.
Architectural designer Nayarit Tineo attended the course, along with other architects, designers, real estate agents, and people with disabilities.
"It's not only just for disability or elders," Tineo said, as accessibility is something many of us will find the need for at some point in our lives. "Think about the obesity crisis that we're also in in America, right? Bigger bodies, right? We don't want narrow spaces."
Inclusive design isn't a requirement for residential construction, but the city of Rochester adopted a visitability ordinance in 2018. Doucette pushed for this requirement, which states that single and two-family homes that receive city funding must be constructed in a way that allows people with disabilities to visit with little or no assistance.
"However, its implementation is so restrictive that it renders it useless for designing and building inclusive housing for single family homes and for apartments," Doucette said. "So we need some real change at the local level."
She said she hopes more training sessions like the one she organized this week will be attended by members of City Council and other local decision makers, to advance the conversation.
