Saturday, October 28, 2006

The Latest On My Situation

Just thought I'd keep you all posted on my moving situation and my 504 request.

As many of you may (or may not) know, I am being relocated to a new apartment building by the local housing authority here in Denver as they will soon be remodeling the one I'm in now. This is expected to happen with the signing of the new lease possibly being on Monday and my moving out of this apartment after the election

I say after the election because I've been appointed to work as an Election Judge for the upcoming election and the vote center I'm assigned to work at is just a block from here. if I were to move BEFORE the election, I would have to commute BY SCOOTER (It's too big to fit on the bus) in cold and (potentially) snowy weather to and from the vote center and my new apartment (And getting a new assignment at this juncture is NOT an option).

I'd also run the risk of getting a flat tire on some of the streets & sidewalks (Namely the stretch of sidewalk from Cherokee St. to Pecos St. for those in the know) I'd have to travel on to get there as they are not well kept by the city. :(

I've had to replace BOTH of my front wheels due to flats incurred as a result of past visits to my mom's apartment (she already lives in the building I'll be moving to) and don't want to take that chance again at THE WORST possible time for me personally just to work an election.

Ordinarily, I'd just walk away from the Judge's position altogether in lieu of moving, but it pays me an extra $100 which I can always use. This is ON TOP OF the $550 I'll get as a relocation allowance from the local housing authority just for the trouble of moving as well as my usual Social Security checks that I normally get. And, like i said earlier, the assignment is only a block away from where I currently live, so unless it's an utter complete blizzard outside, I should have NO problem at all getting to my assigned post for work on November 7. :)

As for my 504 Request with a roll-in shower (That BTW is a Reasonable Accomondation Request), there's no real significant progress there. But when I went to see the apartment I'd be moving into, I was told by the manager that there are NO 504s in the highrise itself, but there are some in the cottages, which are ground level units that are seperate of the building itself. Having seen them from the outside, I might as well move into a unit in the projects as both would be just as unsafe (Especially at this time of year when the flakes are flying).

The reason I was told there are no roll-in showers and that it would be nearly impossible in the highrise itself is because of the age of the building and that removing the tub would negatively impact my neighbors above and below me (Which I thought was nothing but baloney).

If my 504 is rejected, I may have to resort to the appeals and (potentially) legal process to get it. Hopefully it won't go that far, but I'm not holding my breath on that.

Unfortunately, due to the timing of things, I'm now faced with having to move out first and settle the issue of the 504 later. I say this because things are now at a point where the local housing authority will start moving people into the projects (which are as rogue as any urban housing projects in America are) just to get us out of this building (There's asbestos in the building which be must be removed).

So there you have it folks. The latest on my situation. I'm just hoping for the best.