About Ability Designed Homes
Our Mission
ABILITY DESIGNED HOMES
CONCEPT 2024
Nancy S. Fisher
Ability Designed Homes are built for a lifetime of living. Houses should be real Homes of Comfort, Peace, and Safety. They should be solidly built, with limited frills, and with energy efficient floor plans and materials that allow for Universal Access and multiple uses. And they must be affordable.
There are many people who find themselves in a situation where they need to provide a home for themselves as well as earn or supplement an income. There are also many others who need a temporary or permanent place to live but cannot afford or qualify for the conventional shelter available. This plan brings these two needs together and provides a win-win solution to all sides.
THE CONCEPT.....................................
There are two aspects to this concept:
The first is a person who is willing and able to run a household, get along with others, and follow directions.
The second is the house itself: which consists of the distinctive living units, (A and B) the Master Bedroom Suites (MBS): and (C) the common area of the house, consisting of a large eat-in-kitchen, laundry, exercise, workshop, library, foyer, and office areas.
The MBS consists of a large multipurpose/bedroom, individual bath, small kitchenette, private patio, and entrance. Essentially a comfortably sized and equipped studio apartment. Each home is made up of four (more or less) of these Master Bedroom Suite units. Two are mirror opposites of the other two, A and B.
These individual living suites are attached to the larger unit (C).
These units are all built via Modular Home construction which can be configured into many different layouts. The individual components stay the same and can be connected in different ways to accommodate lot size, budget, and floor plan requirements. Personal styles and details can be added to the basic home when it is ordered, once it is set up, or down the road as use and money permit. The MBS can also be used to efficiently expand the capacity of existing homes.
The owner or manager of the home would live in one of the suites and use, rent out, lease, loan, or otherwise employ the other 3 suites depending on the family needs, as income producing property or as a ministry.
See Appendix A for more creative uses for these Homes.
One key to making this concept workable is designing the initial house so it can be configured to suit the owners areas of interest, and mitigating the ongoing expenses of maintaining the home, while enabling the caregivers/managers /owners through information sharing, use of technology, and resource development. This can be done by keeping building costs down through the Modular Construction Process, using economic energy sources, Building Green, and by designing homes to be easily accessed by those with abilities and disabilities of all kinds, i.e. Universal Design.
Even after someone moves into housing, they may still not have the resources they need to learn to live independently. The owner/manager of each Ability Designed Home will need to be able to point each resident in the right direction to fulfill their specific needs. They need to be made aware of the spiritual, private, and social services that may be available to them, such as access to government programs, private and religious relief organizations, transportation, nutritional and medical assistance, recreational facilities, and a means to improve their enjoyment of Life. In addition, they would benefit from the family atmosphere as opposed to the institutional environment of traditional assisted living facilities.
My intent is that each building would be independently owned and operated, self-supporting and self-perpetuating both financially and “educationally”, thus inspiring and enabling residents to become managers of their own Ability Designed Homes.
As you can see there are many uses for Ability Designed Homes, and there are more I have not mentioned here. It seems like everyone has another idea of how they could put a home like this to good use! I see unlimited potential for this concept.
PAYING FOR AN ABILITY DESIGNED HOME
These homes can be financed with a regular mortgage as a privately owned home, plus other options to explore include grants, corporate sponsors, teaming up with non-profits and charities, government programs and personal loans.
Using a combination of ingenuity and technology, we would hope to keep the building costs as low as or lower than a conventional home in the same neighborhood. This would encourage those who can get a conventional mortgage to purchase a home, even if they don’t use it for income producing property at first. It is after all, just perfect for a large or extended family!
OWNERSHIP AND OPERATION
It will take a special person to operate each home. Finding and training them will be a part of the built-in process. Owner/operators who participate may want to take advantage of local programs that teach how to be a homeowner, handle finances, and maintain their homes. Widows, who have had experience in homemaking and caring for a family, would be good candidates to be home managers. Each would be able to choose the type of people that would live with them and the purpose of their home. There could be different kinds of mixes: one might only want unwed mothers, others only war veterans, another formally battered women. Certain households might want to mix so that a young, healthy adult would be available to assist another resident with catastrophic injuries, while the homeowner worked at another job or ran errands.
CONSTRUCTION BASICS
Recent innovations in building design make it feasible to build structures that are energy efficient and environmentally friendly as well as extremely weather resistant and climate adaptable. There is also a suggested option of using shielding within the walls to better control the interior atmosphere.
The bathrooms would have roll-in showers, or walk-in tubs, and possibly whirlpool tubs, all with plenty of grab bars and seats. Options such as Sure-Hands lifts (see Appendix B) can be added as needed if the initial structure is prepared when built to accommodate them. It is hoped that each home will choose to have at least one master suite equipped with a Sure Hands or similar technology.
Phone jacks, data ports and electric plugs should be plentiful. Windows and doors must be easy to open from the inside and secure from the outside, with universal emergency exits. All halls, floors, and doorways must be wide enough to accommodate an electric scooter and a person side-by-side. The sills must be on grade.
Other construction details include:
Plumbing should be centrally located and accessible for maintenance to limit extensive piping and repair costs.
Slab foundation (possibly over basement) providing extra strong floors,
One story (possibly with basement) with weather and fire resistant roof design, option for second floor storage or extra sleeping quarters,
Ceiling joists strong enough to support Sure-Hands device, walls framed with 2" x 6" studs, well insulated, Sitting and standing counter heights and power plugs,
Central wood-burning fireplace,
Wheelchair accessible storm shelter, not under the house,
Large pantry to store bottled water and emergency supplies,
Roll in showers, handicapped accessible toilets and sinks,
Extensive Grab bars,
On grade, Universal Access and Egress,
Smoke, fire and carbon monoxide alarms,
Hardware should be Arthritis friendly.
Exterior designs can be altered (as well as floor plans) to suit the neighborhood and/or preferences of the owners.
Landscaping should include accessible garden and exercise areas, as the lot allows, driveway easily accessible to kitchen, MBS, and Front doors.
Specifics details and exact materials may vary to accommodate developments in building techniques, available materials, zoning, and designers. Different builders or developments may have specific criteria to consider, as well. The home should be built on a level lot with the exterior made to blend in with the other homes in the area. If each neighborhood allowed an Ability Designed Home to be built in its midst, the home could serve the families in the area and thus improve the community. Each Ability Designed Home can have separate rules and purposes as suits the neighbors and fills a need in the neighborhood.
FLOOR PLANS
A possible prototype is coming below, but
Any plan that has 4 large master suites and meets the above criteria could be considered for use. Floor plans are constantly being recognized and improved upon.
CONCLUSION
Now is the time to build for the future. I hope that you will consider how you might play a role in the development, building, maintaining or enabling of Ability Designed Homes. Please contact me with your ideas and suggestions.
Call me at home: 864-710-2249, anytime. leave a message if I do not answer and I will call you back.
Thank you for considering my ideas.
Sincerely,
Nancy S. Fisher
APPENDIX A
Possible Uses for
Ability Designed Homes
Income could be derived from the Ability Designed Home
according to the desires, abilities and needs of the owner and neighborhood.
For example, if the home were used to display and sell technology for the disabled or medical equipment, franchise fees and commissions could be collected.
Suites could be rented out to visiting friends and relatives of the owner or neighbors.
A day care or after-school care could be established; tutoring, music lessons, sick childcare, elderly day care, pet sitting, or laundry services could be offered to the community.
Suites could be rented to locals only, or to the general public.
The suites would be suitable for transitional housing for those unable to afford a separate residence, such as formally battered women, disabled or senior citizens, veterans, immigrants.
It could be long term housing for anyone, families, or groups.
With proper staffing, houses could be used for any level of Recovery homes.
The design of these homes would also lend themselves to becoming ministries as homeless shelters and other temporary housing. Churches could sponsor an individual, a single unit or a whole house.
They could also be used as foster homes, assisted living for persons with MS, CP or as well as group living for the ageing population in general. accidental or military related catastrophic disablement.
A couple might want to have a small bed-and-breakfast, sleep-and-stable or other variation.
They might choose to take in foster children or adopt several children.
A church or synagogue could have a temporary shelter, home for its employees, or a series of homes for income.
A planned community or housing development could incorporate a MBS home in their design plans so that the other home owners could have a private motel, an emergency shelter, assisted living or meeting rooms.
There are endless possibilities depending on the abilities of the owner(s), the location, the needs of the community, and zoning of the house.
APPENDIX B
Sure Hands International, manufactures and distributes robotic technology that enables a non-ambulatory individual to easily and safely move around their home without a chair or assistant present.
Videos available. http://www.surehands.com/
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