Home Makeovers & New Homes

Hate me if you must, but shows like Extreme Home Makeover annoy me because as wonderful as it is for that one family who was lucky enough to be selected for the show's make-over, which can include tearing down the entire home and rebuilding it, what about the other families that also need assistance, even if not so extreme?  Shows like Extreme Home Makeover are, to me, an indication that something isn't working.

Likewise, as heart-warming as this story of an injured veteran receiving an accessible home is, to me, this is an indication that something isn't working.  This is not a slam at Homes for Our Troops as they're meeting a need in the community and doing a wonderful service to our returning injured troops.  However, people should not need a specially built new home to have the accessibility they need.  This indicates a profound & severe lack of even minimally accessible homes.  For every injured veteran that has a home custom-built, how many other injured veterans are not chosen, how many people who suffered a stroke now have an inaccessible home, how many accident victims are there that has to struggle to find a place to live?

If there were more homes built using the principles of Visitability or Universal Design, existing homes can be more easily modified at less expense to fit people's specific needs.  It's not rocket science, and it's not particularly expensive, either, at a basic level.