Re: VR/Buliding access.?

[Guest guest]

Kathy,

Yes, GA VR will pay for higher education. Not all the time, but in some

instances it will. I know for a fact it will pay if the person does not

have a college degree. I was enrolled in my MPH when I got involved with

VR. They said the reason they would not cover my tuition (or at least the

state university rate for graduate classes, as I was going to an expensive,

private university) was that they said I was employable with my current

level of education. There was NO way I could perform my previous career,

but since I had a BA in international studies and had also gotten my MBA,

they said I was employable w/o further education - despite the fact that I

had NEVER worked in business. Oh well, at least I was able to finish my

degree and still receive VR benefits (they installed my first set of hand

controls and remodeled my master bathroom and built a ramp to the front door

of my house.

I don't know about other people's experiences with VR, but mine with GA were

atrocious. They basically chose the low bid contractor (well, one up from

low bid) and he was AWFUL. I never got a CO for the bathroom mod or the

front ramp - just a whole lot of problems. And it took them over a year to

start w/o these pr

As far as complaining about building access you need to complain to the

owner of the building. Generally, the MD office is renting their space. My

physiatrist just opened his new office at the Avenues at Forsyth. Gorgeous

shopping center. I have spoken with the management company, as has my MD

-about getting van accessible spaces. and they kept saying they were in

compliance and didn't need to do anything. I finally got to talk to the

owner yesterday after my appointment. Because their spaces are just regular

handicap spaces with " van accessible " signs, the other car was blocking my

ramp and I was unable to leave. My MDs office manager and I went down to the

property management office and got the property manager to come out to the

parking lot to see exactly why it is not van accessible. It was partly

ignorance. he thought that as long as there was a striped area, that a van

could use it. He had to see with his own two eyes that a standard handicap

space is NOT van accessible (and that hanging a van accessible sign on it

doesn't make it so). But - he is going to create 2 va and he is going to

create real van accessible spaces. But like your MDs office, he too swears

that he is in compliance with the law.

You said that they knew it was going to house medical offices, yet was not

build accessible. Was this building built recently from the ground up or

just remodeled? At least in GA, if a building is being remodeled, then it

only has to comply with the access standards for when the building was

built. I think more than 80 of the building has to be torn

down/removed/gutted in order for them to have to bring it up to current

access standards. So, if the building was built in 1980 and remodeled, it

very well may be in compliance. But if you are not sure, I would contact

code enforcement or the building inspector and have them investigate to see

if they are or aren't in compliance. There may also be another agency, but

my eyes are closing and I'm nodding off as I type this and can't think of it

now). If that doesn't work, its just a matter of talking to your MDs office

about it. They have to work with their property management company and beg

them to bring the property into compliance. I know it has taken me over a

year to get them to know know.

ok. That's all I can write now. My eyes are closing. If I failed to answer

your question, email me and ask again.

Jenn

Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 6:33 AM, DK Moulton wrote:

>

>

> Hi Jenn, , and All,

>

> I looked into VR when I was thinking about returning to work three years

> ago - I was told that they do not pay for education at higher ed

> institutions, that they only offer 'training programs'. Does you state pay

> for retraining to those that need a new career path that would require

> further college education?

>

> Also - does anyone know who to complain to about a public bldg (a doctor's

> office of all things) that is not in anyway, shape or form handicapped

> accessible? I had to visit this building last week and I was dumbfounded; no

> ramp, no button for the very heavy entrance doors to open and the bathrooms

> were a nightmare to navigate in a chair. When I asked a receptionist about

> the why of this she said the owner knew during construction that they would

> be one of their clients (the doctor and an MRI/x-ray business), but still

> did nothing to make the bldg accessible.

>

> She said others have complained to the owner of the bldg (a large, four

> story mult-office building and owned by a local attorney) and she said that

> he insists that it meets all guidelines. I don't understand how it can

> though (or why these med. places stay) - if it was not for my daughter

> lifting my chair like you would a stroller going over a curb to get to the

> bldg's walkway, keeping the door open for me, and again lifting my chair to

> be able to turn tight corners in the bathroom, I really would not have been

> able to even get to the front door of this bldg, never mind get into the

> offices

>

> Kathy

>