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Everyone deserves a place to call home.

This Christmas, with a gift of €40, you could help change the life of someone who needs an accessible place to live.

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People with physical disabilities face huge barriers when it comes to finding a home.

Far too many houses and apartments in Ireland are simply not suitable for wheelchairs at all. Even properties that claim to be 'accessible' may have a ramp or a lift but are otherwise completely unsuitable.

Irish Wheelchair Association is campaigning for change — with the help of our supporters, we are asking the government to pass new legislation that requires that 7% of new build properties to be fully liveable for wheelchair users.

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While the national housing shortage is affecting everyone, this lack of fully wheelchair accessible housing is a crisis within a crisis.

It is making life incredibly difficult for men, women, and young people with physical disabilities. People like Katie.

Katie is a young woman in her twenties who is living with a rare muscle-wasting condition called Friedrich's Ataxia which affects her co-ordination and speech.

A full-time wheelchair user, Katie would love to be more independent. She would ideally love to live in nearby Kilkenny City and get a job. “I'm looking to live a life with purpose,” she says. “That's basically all I want.”

“I applied for housing. I waited two or three months then I got a phone call saying I'd been accepted for the housing list,” she says. “But that's three years ago." 

With your help, Irish Wheelchair Association are determined to do all we can for Katie and others who are in her situation.

"I'm looking to live a life with purpose"

Kaspar was just 33 when a serious motorcycle accident changed his life forever. He sustained damage to his head and to his hip, meaning he could no longer walk.

"I was six months in Tallaght Hospital,” he says. “Then I was sent to a nursing home, where I stayed for over nine years.” During this period, he felt low and lost, he battled with depression. Eventually, Kaspar reached out to Irish Wheelchair Association and that's when his situation began to improve.

Kaspar now lives in a properly wheelchair accessible home that is perfectly suited to his needs. It has a ramp at the front and another at the back so he can enjoy his garden.

Kaspar's house is fully wheelchair accessible throughout — with wooden floors instead of carpets, properly widened doorways and kitchen and bathroom layouts.

Sadly, houses like this are all too rare in Ireland.

"I was sent to a nursing home, where I stayed for over nine years."

At Irish Wheelchair Association, our vision for our members is that they realise their right to live independent lives of dignity and freedom.

While the housing crisis continues to affect all of Ireland, people with physical disabilities are facing a crisis within a crisis. Please, this Christmas, make a gift — large or small — to show your support. The impact of your generosity could enable someone like Katie or Kaspar to live independently in the year ahead.

Thank you for being such a key part of the work of Irish Wheelchair Association.