Making Homes More Accessible
With your support, Unity House is completing more than $2 million in accessibility improvements at our
homes for people with disabilities. The upgrades are allowing residents to stay in the homes they love,
with their friends, for as long as they need to, even if their mobility decreases over time.
Here’s the latest:
One-story living for New Life residents
By this time next year, the seven residents of Unity House’s oldest IRA will move together into a brand new, fully accessible home in Auburn. Unity House recently purchased a buildable lot on Dunning Avenue. Sections of a new manufactured home will be built off-site, trucked to the lot and installed next spring. The project was made possible through a $647,000 state Health Care Facility Transformation Program grant awarded last year. The new single-story home will replace the two-story New Life IRA, west of Auburn, which opened in 1993 in a house that’s more than 200 years old.
West Green Street residents return to a better home
For almost two years, the 12 residents of our West Green Street IRA have called a state-owned house on Abbott Road their temporary home while their downtown residence underwent a transformative $577,000
renovation. Now, they’re finally home, and it’s safer, more accessible and thoughtfully designed to promote greater autonomy and comfort. Upgrades include a new entrance ramp, an accessible front porch, expanded living areas, accessible bathrooms, more functional kitchens, and structural repairs.
A new home for Hamilton IRA residents
Unity House recently purchased a house on South Street Road, just south of Auburn. After renovations, the single-story house will become home to the four residents of the two-story IRA on Hamilton Avenue. The Hamilton IRA is the oldest of the three Auburn group homes that the state transferred to Unity House earlier this year. Renovations at the new house will include a new entrance ramp, a ceiling track lift system, and a roll-in accessible bathroom.