“Amy” and her two minor children, one of whom has severe physical disabilities, live on the second floor in their apartment complex, and the only way to and from their apartment is the stairs. As therapy for the child’s disabilities, and to encourage her to get exercise, the child’s doctor prescribed her a special needs bicycle. The bike is quite heavy, and Amy could not carry it up and down the stairs to and from the apartment regularly, so the family attempted to store it on the first floor in the stairwell. But then the management threatened eviction if they continued to store it there. The Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership, which is operated by JALA in collaboration with area health-care institutions, referred the case to JALA’s Fair Housing Unit. The Fair Housing Unit intervened and requested, as a reasonable accommodation of Amy’ daughter’s disabilities, that the family be permitted to store the bicycle under the stairwell downstairs. The management of the apartment complex granted the reasonable accommodation request, enabling the family to remain stably housed and to store the bike on the ground floor so that Amy’ daughter can use it regularly.
