This free illustrated downloadable pdf [http://www.family-friendly-fun.com/documents/doable_renewable_home.pdf of THE DO-ABLE RENEWABLE HOME is a 2005 revision of a USGPO/AARP publication I first used in the early 1990's to help in my caregiving efforts for my mother. Subtitled "Making Your Home Fit Your Needs", it includes affordable do-it-yourself methods for adapting the home to meet physical limitation needs — disability needs as well as for the frail elderly, as I found when my own permanent and worsening injuries and disabling illnesses made daily housebound life a seriously losing battle. Renters' adaptation rights under law are briefly summarized in the pdf. And below the orange-peel are related pieces of information I've found and in some cases have used in the past twenty-eight years, for myself and for people who came into the public library where I was working when "it" all began.
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I gave away my copy of The Do-Able Renewable Home some years ago to a friend in a similar situation who wanted to make some changes like the very modest ones I had made. So now, in [https://www.google.com/search?q=%22The+Do-able+renewable+home%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=%22The+Do-able+renewable+home%22&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&start=10 googling to find another copy] I also found useful hits such as [http://books.google.com/books/about/The_do_able_renewable_home.html?id=fTZSAAAAMAAJ more about it at Google Books]. Another was [http://gero.usc.edu/nrcshhm/library/ The National Resource Center on Supportive Housing and Home Modification], which offers other adaptation publications at modest cost. This page of [http://www.infinitec.org/live/homemodifications/basics.htm Infinitec.org] lists "Organizations that Promote Barrier-Free Environments and/or Offer Information"; and the [http://www.nahb.org/directory.aspx?directoryID=188 Find-A-Certified-Aging-in-Place-Specialist Find A Certified Aging In Place Specialist (CAPS)] page of the National Assn of Home Builders is more on the building-contractor end of the affordability spectrum. [https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Fair+Housing+Act%22+renters+disabled+modifications&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a This was my search for current renters' rights] information on making modifications to apartments and rented homes. ([http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/disabled-renters-housing-rights-30121.html Nolo Press offers some publications] that may help with that too, such as Disabled Renters' Housing Rights Book — a pageful of information about that is [http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/disabled-renters-housing-rights-30121.html here] for an idea of what they cover). Online or at your local public library, or in the old fashioned phone book for your area under city and county government, you may be able to find local Aging and/or Disability offices for related information. Back when I first began to be disabled (1986), government agencies like those in many places assisted in getting through the hoops of building wheelchair ramps over outdoor front or back steps, even sometimes helping cover the costs based on financial need, or simply sending skilled people who did the work. Many of those government offices are still in place, if under more restricted budgets, and may offer further services and direct caregivers and people with limitations and disabilities to other local agencies offering help to make "activities of daily life" more manageable, whether the disability is age-related, injury-related, illness-related, or "other". Many non-profit organizations that did a lot of good have gone out of operation nationally or locally, some due to mismanagement scandals, others as donations dried up under the pressure of 9/11 contribution appeals, the Haiti earthquake, the 2005 hurricane disasters, and the economic downturn. But usable information and knowledgeable people are still out there. What books, webpages, local government agencies, rehabilitation hospitals, physical therapists, organizations, etc, have you found useful in finding out how to adapt closet doors, room doors and doorways, how to get close enough to the kitchen sink to get dishes washed, easier-to-use water-taps on sinks and showers, and similar changes that made a difference in daily life? What idea for contact-finding information panned out for you when changing the living-space was crucial? What changes have you made to where you live that have made a difference in daily coping?