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At
HOME’s Annual Meeting, Gwendolyn McIver, with her grandson, Parryaye,
standing by her side told her story publicly for the first time. In a
steady voice, she shared the ordeal experienced by her family after her
daughter had a stroke that left her partially paralyzed and was unable to
get a transfer to an accessible apartment.
“Perryaye, then twelve
years old, took on the responsibility of caring for his mother. Instead
of playing outside with his friends, he would take his mother in his arms
like a person lifts a baby and carry her up and down the steps and in and
our of rooms because her wheelchair could not go through the doorways in
her apartment. Parryaye had to continue to move his mother all the time,
but if she had been in a handicap accessible unit, she would have been
more independent, leaving her twelve year old son to be a child.
“While Shandria was on the waiting list for an accessible
unit, we asked BMHA if we could build a ramp—they said no. Whenever
Shandria had to go out of the house, we would have to lift her up and out
of her wheelchair and up the stairs to her apartment. She was basically a
prisoner in her own home…
“I began asking different agencies, including our
councilperson for the help we needed—meanwhile, my daughter’s health was
deteriorating.” Finally, she was referred to HOME. “From my very
first contact HOME understood the need and said they would help me. I
want to say: THANK YOU HOME! Special thanks to Scott Gehl and Andrea
Mujahid-Moore and to my attorneys, Dan Lukasik and Steve Halpern from my
late daughter Shandria L. Brooks, her son Parryaye, her daughter Amber,
her faithful and devoted sister Mrs. Falonda Smith…and myself. They
attempted to work with BMHA to find Shandria an accessible apartment.”
Commenting on the theme of the Annual Meeting, “A Dream Deferred”, Mrs.
McIver stated
“In Shandria’s case, it [fair housing] was a dream denied, not deferred…On
April 22, 2000, Shandria went home to be with the Lord.”
This was 15 days before the case was filed and four years
before the case was finally resolved.
Mrs. McIver concluded
her testimonial by saying
“We’ve gone through all of this so that no other family will ever have
to. This [being able to tell the story] will give me some closure.” |
