Karen Glascock, 57, was working in her attic when she fell from a ladder and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Glascock was working as a massage therapist and had been in good shape. But after the fall, she had to relearn how to speak. And, with the help of a physical therapist, she had to regain her ability to walk.
After falling October 2105 and spending 2½ weeks in a coma, she has spent all of her time working to recover.
Now, she is working on a different challenge: finding an accessible and affordable place to live.
“I’m at that point where I am ready to get out,” she said.
For four months, she has been living at Cottonwood Inn Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center in Three Springs, after spending time in various facilities.
But she can’t return to her two-story house in Hesperus because she uses a wheelchair.
She doesn’t want to live outside Durango now because she hasn’t regained her ability to drive, and she wants to be close to bus lines.
But the housing search has been daunting – and she isn’t alone.
The Southwest Center for Independence helps those living in nursing homes transition into a home and get federal money to help pay for it, but the roadblock is finding a unit, said Jason Ragsdell, a program manager.
“We have a lot of people that go through all the steps and can’t find a place to move into,” he said.
Even for those people who don’t need a federal subsidy, it’s a challenge, he said.
For Ragsdell, it’s a question of equality.
“They are being institutionalized without having committed any crime,” he said.
Everyone has the right to live where they choose, regardless of their diagnosis, he said.
It’s also much less expensive for people to live in the community.
The average monthlong stay in a nursing home in Colorado outside the Front Range was about $6,000 in 2012, according to the Administration on Aging.
This is a cost that falls on Medicaid when the patient runs out of money.
To lessen the taxpayer burden, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid gave the state $22 million in 2011 to fund Colorado Choice Transitions, a program aimed to transition 490 people out of nursing homes by 2016.
By September, the program had helped 200 people, according to its website.
To get more people out of nursing homes in this area, Ragsdell would like to see the city adopt accessibility standards for new construction. It also would help ensure that those with disabilities could visit their friends.
More accessible housing is needed to meet the needs of an aging population, said Sheila Casey, director of the Durango-La Plata County Senior Center.
Between 2000 and 2010, La Plata County saw the population of those older than 65 grow by 45 percent. By comparison, between 2010 and 2020, that population is expected to jump by 90 percent.
These adults are likely to need one-story homes, larger doorways to accommodate wheelchairs and other features.
“Most older adults over the age of 75 at some point have some mobility issues,” Casey said.
In Glascock’s case, the challenges with both mobility and housing came unexpectedly. But she is determined to overcome them.
“I have been told I am doing really good,” she said.
She hopes to find a one-story house, with a yard so her dogs can move back in with her.
After she finds a place, her next goal is to go back to work, doing something where she can use her mind instead of her hands, she said.
“I feel like I am starting all over,” she said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
