Chicago area woman with disabilities keeps getting denied options for housing
A 29-year-old woman from Wheaton, Illinois, recently wrote CBS News Chicago a poignant email — detailing how she is stuck living at home with her parents.
Lauren Bryant has osteogensis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, and has used a wheelchair since she was very young.
Bryant works a part-time job and holds not one, but two degrees. But she is now even exploring the thought of living with seniors — not seniors in college, but senior citizens, in a nursing home.
"I'd like to think I've had a pretty typical life for someone who is turning 30," Bryant said.
In college, Bryant led an independent life and made videos where she gave tours of her room. Less than four years later, she is looking at nursing homes.
Bryant's brittle bone disease has caused more than 300 fractures.
"A couple months ago I broke my shoulder," she said. "I don't know how."
But Bryant rolls with the punches. She explained that her day-to-day doesn't really require medical assistance.
"For me, it's more like, 'Oh no, I dropped this thing that I need on the floor, and I can't pick it back up,'" Bryant said.
Bryant said she also needs someone to help put on her sleep apnea mask, and get her into bed — or out of bed — if there is an emergency.
What is preventing Bryant from renting her own apartment and then hiring a 24/7 caregiver, which seems like it would be a solution? The answer is money.
Also crossed off the list are accessible housing through a nonprofit — which turned out to be too independent — and a room at a state-supported facility under the Illinois Supportive Living Program.
"It's for those 18 to 64 with physical disabilities who need help with their activities of daily living. They have caregivers on site 24/7," said Bryant, "and it's like, 'Oh my gosh, this is perfect!'"
But an Illinois Supportive Living Program manager rejected Bryant — apparently because she had too many care needs.
"[I asked], 'What do you recommend I do at this point then?'" Bryant said. "[I was told], 'Well you could apply to nursing facilities,' which is an absurd thing to suggest to somebody in their 20s."
The TikTok-making Wheaton woman said even the nursing homes she called won't take her in.
"[They say]: 'Well, you know I'm not sure if our activities will be appropriate for you. It's a lot of bingo,'" Bryant said. "It should not be this hard."
Remember, Bryant has been on her own before — at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She lived in a dedicated space and 24/7 care facility at Beckwith Residential Support Services.
"It is a community that is specific for students with severe disabilities," said Mari Anne Brocker Curry, director of housing information and marketing for university housing at UIUC.
The program takes up an entire floor of a dorm.
"There's a pager system that's built in. There's emergency generators. There's hospital beds. There's the lift system," said Brocker.
Why isn't such a program replicated many other places?
"Oh gosh, well, I don't know," Brocker said. "Every institution is different."
Recent renovations at U of I include the revamping of rooms at other residence halls to make even more dorms accessible.
"There's an investment, there's a commitment — which really allows us to prioritize inclusivity," said Brocker.
Bryant misses all that, now that she is no longer on campus.
"College students graduate, and then what are they supposed to do?" she said.
Bryant said she pictured what it would be like to have to live in a nursing home.
"I have, and it's really depressing," she said.
One hope for Bryant now is the Illinois Department of Health Care and Family Services. CBS News Chicago has been in touch with the department, and will have an update if the department can help Bryant regain her independence.
