Wheelchair friendly towns in Georgia (Woodstock: income, living in, prices)

[Blind Bruce]

Hi all, I am permenently confined to a wheelchair and am considering a move to Georgia. Where I now live, all businesses are required to have level or ramped entrances so I can get in. Also, and very inportant to me, the curbs are cut flat at corners so I can go from one block ta another without falling on my head! The terrain is also relatively flat so no big hills to wheel up or fall down. Are there any wheelchair cabs? Is there a "home care" type of service to assist me if I need it?
How does a town like Woodstock fare in this situation? I am retired so work and commute are not important.
Bruce in the Peg

[deja-zebbie]

Bruce,

I can't speak to wheelchair friendly towns, however, you ask about "home care" type service. We live in a more rural area and I'm pretty sure the going rate for such services runs about $8.00 an hour (NOT through an agency) I'm speaking of an area that is perhaps 40+ miles away from a city. Most of the people down in my neck of the woods who need assistance have regular assistance, not just a service to call in when needed. When I moved here, I checked with "agencies" in our area and their prices were way out of my budget. It is possible to find such assistance for less than $8.00 an hour in smaller towns, but again, that would most likely be a "regular" set up, such as a number of hours per day or per week. Folks who do this independently and not through an agency need to count on a certain income, even if it is small. Oh, BTW, I remember I did try someone from an agency and it was a DIASTER. The woman was passive/agressive and SCARY and I'm a pretty tough cookie. After that I put an ad in our local paper. I have been fortunate to have a GREAT helper for the last 4 years.

I don't know anything about Woodstock, but I find that living in a small place where folks have lived for generations has been good as far as finding reliable, regular assistance. I mention the many generation thing because with extended families in the same area, many folks are used to taking care of or providing assistance to recovering, elderly or disabled relatives and also because with a helper from an extended family other family members can sometimes be called upon to provide other anticipated needed services (e.g., clean up after storms, and other weird needs).

All the best,
zebbie