JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A Jacksonville mother says it took a federal lawsuit for her two disabled daughters to finally gain access to their own apartment.<\/p>\n
Makeeda Ismael says she spent months pleading with the Jacksonville Housing Authority to build a wheelchair-accessible ramp at her Southwind Villas apartment. Her daughters, both of whom have cerebral palsy and use wheelchairs, had to be carried up and down stairs to leave their home.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you can see, there\u2019s two of them, they\u2019re almost adult size \u2014 them, their wheelchairs \u2014 and it\u2019s a lot of work as it is,\u201d Ismael said. \u201cMy back was not only hurting, I just felt so exhausted. I was honestly just ready to give up.\u201d<\/p>\n
[DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n Ismael filed a 15-page federal lawsuit last Friday, accusing JHA of disability discrimination and failing to provide equal housing access under the Americans with Disabilities Act. By Monday, a concrete ramp was under construction at her doorstep. It was completed earlier this week.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t want it to go this far, to be honest,\u201d Ismael said. \u201cI debated many days \u2014 did I even want the headache of fighting? Because I felt like every day is already a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n One of her daughters, Laylah, uses a heavy motorized wheelchair weighing over 1,200 pounds. Because there was no ramp, it had to remain at school until the family could safely bring it inside their home.<\/p>\n The lawsuit raises broader questions about whether other Jacksonville Housing Authority properties comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act, which requires accessibility in multifamily housing built after 1991 \u2014 or modifications upon request.<\/p>\n \u201cTo my back… it\u2019ll mean \u2014 I mean just the whole thought of the ramp \u2014 it\u2019s one thing that seems small to the outside world,\u201d Ismael said. \u201cBut it\u2019s a weight lifted off my shoulders, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n Ismael says the lawsuit is no longer just about her family \u2014 it\u2019s about pushing for long-overdue disability inclusion.<\/p>\n \u201cDisability inclusion is so overlooked and downplayed tremendously,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of my biggest things now is being an advocate, helping create a space for my girls to feel included in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n Action News Jax reached out to the Jacksonville Housing Authority to ask about its ADA compliance efforts \u2014 and whether this lawsuit prompted the sudden construction of the ramp. We have not yet received a response.<\/p>\n