There are a number of reasons why some people have difficulty with mobility. It could be due to age, disease or a plethora of other problems, but one thing is for sure – it can be damaging to your health and self-esteem if you cannot move freely throughout your home. This is just one of the reasons the mobility devices like elevators, wheelchair lifts and stairlifts are becoming more common in residential homes and not just in public buildings and businesses. However, this can sometimes come at a difficult cost in terms of finances.

That’s not the case in a recent story from the New York Daily News.  According to the newspaper, a Sanitation Department supervisor has some very charitable friends – they are helping raise money to buy him a home stairlift:

“Gary Siciliano, a 51-year-old veteran sanitation supervisor was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – more commonly known as Gehrig’s disease. Siciliano’s condition has worsened in recent months. He lost the use of his arms and hands, according to his wife, Victoria. Breathing and swallowing is difficult, she said. And he is now losing the use of his legs.”

This situation has led many of Gary’s co-workers to lend their support in many ways, the article says. Although the sanitation workers donated money to install wheelchair ramps in the Siciliano household, Gary is having trouble making it up to his bedroom, due to a lack of strength. The next installation needed is a stairlift, and now the workers are working to get the money for the installation:

“District Superintendent Vinnie Palazzola and others have been also helping by making phone calls to see if Siciliano can get matching funds or donations to help pay for the stair lift – which will cost almost $10,000. They are also assisting with other tasks, including a frustrating go-round with his cell phone provider.”

No matter what condition one might have, it is always good to have the support of your friends and family, especially if you have difficulty moving around your home.

There are many residential living communities that cater specifically to senior citizens and immobile persons who may need some assistance with daily activities and tasks. In these types of buildings, complexes and high rises, it is imperative that mobility is a major concern when any construction or changes are made.  However, when elevator breakdowns occur in areas like this, it can be very difficult for these communities to adjust, since a number of people are left unable to leave their homes. We have covered this subject in this blog before and have shown how important elevator maintenance and checks are in these places.

Luckily, this is not the case for some residents in Ohio’s Pilgrim Place apartments, who recently celebrated the opening of a brand new elevator. According to The Lima News:

‘More than a dozen of the complex’s 50 residents gathered in the community room Monday afternoon to celebrate the occasion with punch, chips and a sheet cake that read “Going up/Going Down.’ After almost two months of climbing steps, the building’s senior residents were ready to party. ‘This is something worth celebrating. It’s been a long couple of months,’ said Apartment Manager Judy Downard as she handed out slices of cake.”

The article says the lack of an elevator was caused by a bad cylinder. When the lift stopped working in mid-May, many tenants stopped taking trips out, finding difficulty in climbing the stairs in the six story building. Fortunately, building owners were helpful when it came to the situational difficulties:

“Residents weren’t completely homebound by the experience. The building’s owners hired someone to help residents up the stairs, provide people to make runs for groceries and prescriptions, and offered to relocate those who wanted to move to a complex with a working elevator.”

It’s always nice to see apartment managers taking responsibility for situations like this – fixing the elevator and aiding tenants as well.

Although this blog is primarily about the world of elevators as it pertains to mobility accessibility concerns, we also like to have a bit of fun in here as well. Elevators are not just a means of transporting people to areas they may have difficulty getting to – they are also part of our pop culture. Some time ago, we talked about some famous elevator scenes in movies – i.e. Devil, Inception, etc. – and with the summer blockbuster movie season in swing, we figured this is a great time to take a look at some more elevators in pop culture.

Here are just some of our favorites:

Drive – Besides being a divisive film amongst critics and audiences alike, this Ryan Gosling drama really took slow motion kissing to a whole new level. In a super slo-mo elevator scene, a love connection is established between Carey Mulligan and Gosling, right before a pretty nasty punch- and kick-fest. Setting this sequence in an elevator really adds to the all-around tension.

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory – Forget the Johnny Depp remake disaster, we’re talking about the classic film starring Gene Wilder. Although the glass elevator – which takes Charlie and his grandfather up into the sky during the conclusion – played a bigger part in the Roald Dahl books, this remains one of the best scenes in movie history.

The Departed – This Martin Scorcese film really lived up to its name, when – SPOILER ALERT – the majority of its main characters were offed in the final minutes of the movie. The most shocking death of them all was that of Leonardo DiCaprio’s main character, the second a set of elevator doors opened. This one definitely deserved the Oscar.

What are some of your favorite movie scenes in elevators?

Almost every apartment building – excluding those built in late 19^th and early 20^th centuries – have some sort of lift system to aid its tenants move in between floors. This is especially in two situations, when these buildings feature double-digit floor totals and when they are primarily for assisted senior living. When power goes out in the summer time, the residents in these buildings are left in dire straits, with no way to get to their apartments except up the stairs.

This was the case at a senior residence apartment building in Florida last week, where citizens had already been without power since a week earlier. According to an article in the Bradenton Herald, engineers were hard at work attempting to rectify the situation early this week:

“A field engineer from Miami joined the two engineers already on the job Friday.Yet as of mid-afternoon neither of two elevators had been restored to service at DeSoto Towers senior residence, 1523 Sixth Ave. W., though repair work was ongoing.”

With the elevator outage moving towards the two-week mark, the building manager has been actively finding ways to assist residents with grocery needs and other supplies. The article says manager Nancy Steele has been checking on residents and bringing requested food and much needed prescriptions. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time these residents have dealt with outage problems. As one tenant put it:

“This isn’t the first time these elevators have been a problem, especially the last two or three years. It’s not unusual for one or both to be out of order. This should’ve been taken care of a long time ago.”

For this reason, the current elevators (which were last renovated in the early 90s) will be replaced with new models from a totally different company. Luckily, these plans were already in place before this current situation occurred.