A Condo of His Own

Sitting in his living room and wearing a big smile, William Rayber boasted that he watched television until 10 Wednesday night.

“I can go to sleep when I want. If I want, I’ll watch TV until midnight,” he said Thursday. “It’s always been a dream of mine to have a place of my own.”

That dream became a reality for Rayber this week when he moved into his one-bedroom condo in Canoga Park, marking the first time he has lived alone.

An Easter Seals program and government funding will help him pay off the 30-year mortgage on the $42,000 condo. Rayber is legally blind, has cerebral palsy and needs a wheelchair or walker to move around.

For six years he lived in a Granada Hills group home, where he grew to dislike its restrictions.

“I didn’t have much freedom. I didn’t have a choice of where I wanted to go,” said Rayber, 29. “I’m not going to miss it. I’m free.”

“He can now decide when he is going to get up, when he is going to go to bed, when he is going to eat, if he’s going to have friends over--all day-to-day things we take for granted,” added Aletha Wallace, director of Creative Housing Options at the Easter Seals’ Van Nuys office.

Rayber is one of two Valley residents who moved this week into their own condos through the Easter Seals’ Home Select Program. He is also part of a growing trend of more disabled people leaving long-term licensed-care facilities, said Ronald Cohen, executive director of United Cerebral Palsy of Los Angeles.

“With enough support, and if you’re willing to take a risk, [disabled people] can live independently,” Cohen said. “When I talk to the folks and ask if they want to move back to the group home, none of them say yes.”

Because it’s difficult for disabled people, whose only income may be federal assistance, to afford most rents, United Cerebral Palsy is constructing five apartment complexes throughout Southern California that will offer government-subsidized low rents and wheelchair accessibility, Cohen said. One of the buildings will be completed in North Hollywood in six months, he said.

About 130 people are in the process of finding suitable housing through the Easter Seals program. Wallace said the program was started a year ago because of high housing rents.

Rayber paid $1,000 of his own money for the condo and received a $12,500 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and $20,000 from the city’s first-time homeowner buying program, Wallace said. Of that city money, $11,000 paid for modifications to the residence: tiles were installed in the entrance to allow Rayber to easily maneuver in his wheelchair; and in the bathroom, the tub was removed so he could roll under the shower head.

Rayber, who works at a Build Rehabilitation Industries workshop in San Fernando, will use his salary and Social Security assistance to make the combined monthly mortgage payment and homeowner dues of $438.

Although his bathroom still needs support bars, Rayber was happily making himself at home on Thursday. He brought along few possessions--a television set, a Sony PlayStation and clothes. Donors provided the furniture.

During the first weeks, an Easter Seals worker will stay with Rayber around the clock, helping him get accustomed to the neighborhood.

“[But] one of these days we’re only going to stop by a couple of days a week, instead of being there 24 hours a day,” said Dan Baker, an Easter Seals program assistant helping Rayber move in. “He’s going to have to get used to the fact he can make up his own mind and have choices.”

Which apparently won’t be a problem for the strong-willed Rayber, who isn’t hesitant to voice his opinions. For instance, he said he doesn’t like being called disabled or handicapped. He prefers the term “physically challenged.”

Because Rayber is legally blind, a county-funded worker will help him with cleaning, cooking, laundry and upkeep, Baker said. An Easter Seals worker will visit the condo once a year to make sure it is being maintained.

It wasn’t easy to find a first-floor unit that was accessible to wheelchairs, Baker said.

“Then when [Baker] showed me this place, I said, ‘Let’s go for it,’ ” Rayber said, adding, “I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t give up.”

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To obtain more information on the Easter Seals Home Select Program, call (818) 996-9902.