Apartments Give Disabled a Special Place to Call Home

Lake Nofer spent more than three years looking for the apartment of her dreams. She wasn’t picky or extravagant in her tastes. She just wanted an affordable place where her cat was welcome and where people in wheelchairs could move freely about.

Nofer said Sunday she has finally found a place to call home. Nofer and 23 other handicapped adults will be the first residents of a $2.1-million apartment building in Woodland Hills, built with federal and city funds especially for the disabled.

“It’s a nice neighborhood, I can get into all the rooms and I can bring my cat,” Nofer said at dedication ceremonies for the Rancho del Valle Apartments at 6560 Winnetka Ave.

The new apartments are part of a seven-acre complex operated by the Crippled Children’s Society. They include an indoor swimming pool and buildings that house vocational training and social events for the disabled. The charitable organization serves about 600 of the San Fernando Valley’s disabled, ranging in age from preschool children to senior citizens.

Officials of the Department of Housing and Urban Development are expected to give final approval for occupancy of the two-story building following an inspection Tuesday, said Susan Phipps-Carr, a consultant on the housing project.

The new security apartment building, which has 24 one-bedroom units, has no steps so wheelchair-bound tenants can reach their front doors easily. Inside, the sinks and counters are low and easy to reach. The bathrooms are designed so tenants can wheel directly into the showers.

“We also have wider doorways and two emergency buttons in the apartments,” said Marilyn Graves, executive president of the Crippled Children’s Society and a member for more than 30 years. “Demand for this type of housing is in the thousands.”

The organization owns similar apartment projects in Glendale and Pasadena, Graves said. The group is working with government agencies to build a 40-unit complex in Long Beach, she said.

“Here, on this project, we were lucky,” Graves said. “We had the land.”

A charitable women’s group called the Gold Diggers donated the Woodland Hills property to the Crippled Children’s Society in 1953. At the time there were only a small house, a swimming pool and a barn on the property, Graves said.

The old pool is now a modern, indoor facility that can be used for exercise and therapy. A large building for offices and vocational training has replaced the house. And the new apartment building replaces the old barn, Graves said.

“Housing has always been part of our long-range plan since the 1960s,” Graves said.

But it was not until 1985 that the Woodland Hills apartment project began to take shape. It was built with $1.5 million in HUD money and $400,000 in city funds from the Community Redevelopment Agency and the Community Development Department. Construction started a year ago.

“Nothing is more gratifying to politicians than to know that you are making a difference in people’s lives,” said Los Angeles Councilwoman Joy Picus at the dedication ceremony.

The Crippled Children’s Society credited Picus with prying enough money from city coffers to make up the difference between what the federal government was willing to spend and the cost of the building.

Residents on Sunday said they are eager to move into their new apartments before Christmas. “This is the happiest day of my life,” said Marilyn Berke, 56, who is paralyzed on the left side of her body. “They’re beautiful, don’t you think?”

A couple of the building’s future residents shyly approached Jerry Mathers, star of the late 1950s and early 1960s “Leave It to Beaver” TV show and one of the celebrities at the dedication. Mathers donated several appliances for the new building that he won last year on a television game show.

“I’ve been watching your show ever since you were a little boy,” Elaine Ohssler said.