Ludell Swenson, 55, is a longtime Madisonian and lifelong Wisconsinite. He has cerebral palsy. In 2011, he was profiled as a Madison Hero: http://www.isthmus.com/isthmus/article.php?article=31864

Over the decades he's found it hard to find a home that really has what he needs and likes. Accessibility and price have always been an issue. Proximity to the places and people he loves has been hard to come by. Now that he's had the chance to get all the things he needs to have the quality of life he wants and deserves, he's been told he must move again---by August 30. 

Why? His landlord, Madison Development Corporation (MDC), a non-profit putatively trying to make housing accessible for low-income people, wants to renovate his apartment complex for a cool $1 million. Before they even finish the renovation, they insist he'd have to permanently move out anyway because he lives on the third floor and the building's elevator(s) need four to six weeks of work.

After the renovation, the rent on Ludell's apartment, just like so many rents in Madison's rapidly gentrifying downtown, will go up. He pays $875 now, but his fixed Social Security payment is only $959. Ludell receives a city subsidy under Section 8 to help low-income people with their housing, but that won't be enough to keep him and his 63-year-old live-in aide, also about to be homeless, under their roof.

Their apartment is already rented out, but we hope our change.org petition will get MDC to cancel the new lease and allow Ludell to get temporary housing while the elevator work is going on. We hope MDC will pay for the temporary housing, but if they won't or can't, we are setting up a page at gofundme.com to help Ludell raise the money for that. Just search gofundme for "Ludell Swenson."

(For the full story, see http://www.isthmus.com/isthmus/article.php?article=43233)

PHOTO BY CAROLYN FATH