What Type Of Things Can Be Done With The Sah Grant?

[Colawoman]

Because of my 100% disability because of ALS I was awarded the Special Adaptive Housing (SAH) Grant. What types of things can this be used for? I know about ramps and grab bars but with almost $68K surely there are other things that would work. Specifically I would like a small screened in porch on the back of my house. This would be the perfect place for me to rest and relax and forget about my personal problems. Has anyone here used their grant?

[jefmil50]

I used the S.A.H. grant in 2010 to have my house totally redone to fit the adaptive housing guidelines. I do know you will have to get 3 bids to submit to the VA for construction. Of all the dealings with the VA this was the easiest to go through. As far as the addition you are wanting to put on, if it falls in the budget and meets the guidelines as far as accessibility and safety I would think there would be a way to add that.

I may be able to find out more for you, in the meantime go ahead and submit the paperwork for the grant, the VA will then come and do an initial accessment of the house you are adapting and take measurements of everything.

Edited May 21, 2014 by jefmil50

[Colawoman]

Thank you so much for responding! Anything that you can find out for me would be greatly appreciated! I will get started on the paper work asap. Did you go through the PVA? They have been wonderful so I think I'll get with them about this too.

[jefmil50]

To answer your question of using the PVA, no I just called the specific department in the VA that handles this grant. They just sent me the paperwork and once you submit it and qualify they send someone out to see what needs to be done. I would then ask them what you can and can not do using the grant. The regulations change every year or so, so you the good thing is you can use it 3 times in a lifetime.

One thing they may tell you or not is try not to use the full amount of the grant, so you may just want tell the contractors you have 65,000.00 and not 68,000.00. That way you have a couple thousand left and every year a certain percentage will be added to your original balance when the increases come out. That only happens though if there is a balance from the original.