A Bangor man living with multiple sclerosis moved into an accessible apartment less than two weeks after the Bangor Daily News published a story about his search for safer housing.
Last month, Zack Carter, 39, was living in a studio apartment on Hammond Street that was not equipped to serve someone with mobility limitations. While he was able to navigate around most of the space with his motorized wheelchair, he couldn’t cook, take a shower or leave the apartment without assistance.
Carter, a Marine veteran, moved into his new home on Feb. 28, less than two weeks after the BDN published a story about his family’s search for a better living arrangement. The article generated a swell of interest from community members looking to help and led to him finding a new place to live.
Carter now lives in a one-bedroom apartment at Sunny Gables in Glenburn that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. This means the doorways are wider, the bathroom is larger, the counters are lower and sinks have gaps underneath to accommodate his wheelchair.
The building, which holds 24 units for seniors and disabled adults, also has an elevator and power-operated doors. This allows him to leave the building on his own — which he does multiple times a day.
The move ended a years-long search for accessible housing, which took on new urgency in January when a fire broke out at his apartment building. First responders had to break down his door and carry him — then his 400-pound wheelchair — out of his unit because he couldn’t leave on his own.
“The safety aspect of not being able to leave the house during a fire hit home for a lot of people,” said Doc Goodwin, founder of the Maine Veterans Project. “We have the luxury of just walking outside if there’s a fire.”
While Carter misses some elements of his old apartment that he’d grown accustomed to, he’s glad he left, he said.
“I could appreciate this place more,” Carter said. “It’s quiet, big and clean.”
Carter was diagnosed 10 years ago when abrupt vision changes led to an MRI of his optic nerve, which revealed the disease. MS is known for attacking the central nervous system, which slowly breaks down a person’s control of their body.
Since then, Carter’s strength and mind haven’t changed, but he has slowly lost feeling throughout his body. This is due, in part, to a lesion in the middle of his spinal cord that harms the connection between his brain and nerves that control his movements.
His condition has become more aggressive in the two years since he moved to Maine, according to his father, Chuck Carter. Zack Carter primarily uses a motorized wheelchair to get around, but can lift himself and walk short distances with support when necessary.
The BDN published a story about Carter’s living arrangement on Feb. 16. That day, the Maine Veterans Project, a Bangor-based nonprofit aimed at preventing veteran suicide, shared it on social media.
“Looks like this veteran could use an accessible apartment in Bangor,” the nonprofit wrote when reposting the story to its Facebook page, which has roughly 24,000 followers. “We have a pretty big reach with this page, and we are hoping somebody out there might have something ready to go.”
That post was shared dozens of times and caught the attention of Susanne LeVasseur, owner of Multi Management Group. LeVasseur reached out to Goodwin directly with information about an accessible unit at Sunny Gables that would be available soon.
“It just goes to show that networking can be very positive,” Goodwin said. “Everyone who shared that post can feel like they helped make it happen.”
Goodwin reached out to the BDN, which connected him with the Carter family, and they reached a rental agreement just days later.
This is the third time LeVasseur has reached out offering housing for veterans over the last three years, according to Goodwin.
LeVasseur said she was “happy to help him” but declined to comment on the situation further.
“The story got straight to the point with a very clearly visible veteran who was in dire straits, and people wanted to help,” Goodwin said. “Knowing that he’s in a safe place where he has the freedom to come in and out of his own home is everything.”
Chuck Carter said he was “surprised” by how far the story reached and how quickly it generated change, but is grateful to those who took action.
“This is such an improvement,” Chuck Carter said. “He’s more independent here and the space lets him stretch out. He may not say it much, but he does like this place considerably more.”