Monday, May 08, 2006

A Note From A Friend in Cambridge

"My building management is formulating a policy for their off street parking.
Have been trying to get a reasonable accomodation from my building manager so that my homemaker can park in their off street parking lot where I live. It's a privately owned permanently affordable Section 8 apartment with about 63 units and 15 parking spaces off street (2 are handicap spaces) and 1 on street handicap space. The building manager contends that spaces will be limited to residents (who park their cars there) no provisions for guests or homemakers or reasonable accomodations for disabled persons who need homemakers to stay in their homes.
She contends that she's parked on street with no problem. She hasn't worked here recently as far as I know. Their renovations started 4 years ago + 50 residents with cars moved in since then,. However I've lived here since 2/28 and have gone out at 3 x /week and empty spaces are extremely scarce. My home maker has been emphatic that she won't come if she has to park on the street; she gets no reimbursemnet from her boss for gas; she is the first good homemaker I've had thru MassRehab and the Somerville Cambridge Elder services (in 7 years) I hate to lose her and fear that without a good homemaker -almost all are functionally illiterate- few can even read the settings on a clothes washer or dryer- this is one of the basic tasks they're supposed to help us with; others are unable to locate a street # on a main st. though every other building has a # on it.
I'm afraid I'd lose my apt at the annual inspection time without a good homemaker."

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