CW: Poverty
The search for housing felt like a maze when Faith Owens first began looking for a place to live. She is a single mother living in Indiana on SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance). She didn’t understand how few paths were available to her and millions of other disabled Americans.
In 2020, Apartment List reported that only nine percent of households with a disabled family member live in an accessible home. More than fifteen percent of American households include a disabled person, yet only six percent of homes meet basic accessibility standards. The gap is not theoretical. It shapes every step of the search for a place to live.
I moved out on my own that year, Finding an apartment where accessibility already existed felt like searching for a door I couldn’t find. The few apartments that were accessible in my hometown had waitlists that were years long.
For low‑income disabled people, the barriers are even more daunting. As of early 2024, there is nowhere in the United States where someone on SSI can afford a basic apartment. The average rent for a studio or one‑bedroom is $1,255. The average SSI benefit is $983. Even in the cheapest rental market, Dallas County in Missouri, a one‑bedroom consumes nearly two thirds of a person’s income. And when affordable housing does appear, the waitlists stretch for years, and the units that finally open are rarely accessible.
A Housing Choice Voucher can help in theory. I recently received one after waiting for years. So far, it has not opened more doors. It has only shown me how many remain locked down to people like me.
Faith’s story sits inside this same system. A foot injury spiraled into back problems, major surgery, and severe nerve pain. Disability benefits are tied to the last ten years of someone’s work history, which means people injured in low‑wage jobs receive lower payments. The system punishes people twice. First when they are hurt, and again when their benefits are calculated using outdated cost‑of‑living data that ignores inflation.
Faith receives a small stipend for her child and child support payments. These count as income. They put her her just over the income limit for federal assistance,
For a short time, she found stability in income‑based housing in Noblesville, Indiana. Then the property was sold, the program ended, and she had to start over. When she returned to Indiana after staying with family, she found that rents had climbed everywhere. A three‑bedroom that cost $996 the year before was now listed at $1,535. Nothing about the apartment had changed, only the price.
Faith’s experience mirrors what happened to Julie Spradlin of Union City, Georgia, whose stability was shaken not by rent increases but by a bureaucratic error. Social Security mistakenly reported she had earned more than $142,000 in 2024. The income was fictional, but the consequences were real. Her Medicaid was canceled, and her subsidized housing is now at risk.
This crisis is not abstract. It is personal. Until policymakers and housing developers begin listening to disabled people, too many doorways will keep sending the same message: this house was not built for you.
Sources:
Cruz, Johnette. “Single Mom on Disability Details Indiana Housing Cost Struggle.” WIBC, 4 Aug. 2026, https://wibc.com/893739/single-mom-on-disability-details-indiana-housing-cost-struggle/.
Gray, Justin. “Social Security Errors for Woman with Disability Put Her in Danger of Losing Her Medicaid.” WSB-TV Channel 2 Atlanta, 8 June 2026, https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/extra-social-security-payments-woman-with-disability-put-her-danger-losing-health-insurance/
Warnock, Rob. “How Accessible Is the Housing Market?” Apartment List, 19 Feb. 2020, http://www.apartmentlist.com/research/how-accessible-is-the-housing-market.
Woodruff, Judy, and Layla Quran. “People with Disabilities Face Extra Hurdles amid National Housing Shortage.” PBS NewsHour, Public Broadcasting Service, 27 Aug. 2024, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/show/people-with-disabilities-face-extra-hurdles-amid-national-housing-shortage.