Sheila

Sheila is a long-time public housing resident living in a mixed-income development.  Recently, her 27-yr-old son died suddenly from a severe asthma attack.   After the funeral service, Sheila held a gathering for mourners at her apartment, in the late afternoon.  A few days later she received a notice from the property manager, stating that she had disturbed her neighbors and that her housing subsidy was being terminated.    Sheila came to LAF for help.  At the administrative hearing, Ms. Peterson conceded that many people had come to pay their respects, but she denied causing any disturbance or damage.  CHA’s attorney argued that the past-funeral gathering was a narrowly averted disaster that could have rivaled a nightclub fire.  The hearing officer rejected CHA’s hyperbolic argument, and ruled in Sheila’s favor.  Her housing voucher was preserved, and she was able to stay in her apartment. 

After the hearing, Sheila sent her LAF attorney a note which read, in part, “If not for people like you, people like me would not stand a chance.”

Fred

Fred has been wheelchair-bound since childhood. Because of his disability, Fred has never had a long-term job. His only income is his monthly SSI check, so he relies on subsidized housing to keep a roof over his head. When he came to us he was living in a studio apartment that was so tiny he was couldn't turn his chair around 360 degrees, couldn’t open the oven or fridge and couldn’t get in and out of the bathroom.

Fred needs an aid but wants to be as independent as possible. He wanted to move to a one-bedroom unit in the building, thinking that it would provide more functional space. We advocated for him to get a handicap accessible unit (the one he was in clearly was not) and finally succeeded.

After two months, he called to report that the elevators (the new unit was on the 4th floor) were constantly broken and had left him stranded either on the 4th floor or outside many times. We investigated and in the next two months we documented almost 100 instances of the elevator breaking down. The Chicago Housing Authority refused to deal with the elevator problem so we aggressively advocated to have Fred moved again. It took a year but Fred finally moved into a new handicapped accessible unit on the first floor. Fred is now happy, safe, and can live as independent a life as possible.

Fred, with LAF attorneys Meghan Carter, Charlie Petrof, and Mara Block in his new apartment.

 After many apartments and more months, Fred is finally in a place where he can move around and live more independently.