Health
Over the Rainbow Association Works to Build More Accessible Housing in Chicago
by Sammy Krimstein, Saifeddine Lahmar and Jessica Watts
Chicago’s lack of affordable housing impacts thousands of residents across the city. This problem is exacerbated when accessibility accommodations, such as needing a wheelchair, are also necessary.
A 2009 shooting left former NBA player Mike Williams paralyzed from the waist down. Since then, he has needed a wheelchair to get around. One of the many problems he had to solve when his life changed was figuring out where he was going to live, since his former apartment didn’t accommodate his wheelchair.
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, suffered a gunshot wound, was injured there and then it became a series of nursing facilities and hospitals,” Williams said. “I had an advocate that mentioned OTR and I came out for an interview, filled out an application and it worked out pretty good.”
Over the Rainbow Association, or OTR, is a nonprofit that focuses on building accessible and independent housing for people with disabilities. It currently has 14 buildings across northern Illinois, including a new building in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood that opened in October 2025.
Eric Huffman is president of OTR. He said there is still more to be done to help solve the growing accessible housing crisis.
“You’re already thinking about what’s the next project, what’s in the pipeline,” Huffman said. “So, you know, while we were doing the Lakeview Landing, we also have two other projects in the pipeline right now that we’re thinking about doing.”
Another key part of OTR’s mission, according to Huffman, is the affordability aspect. He said that while other kinds of accessible housing buildings require that residents pay up to 90% of their income in rent, OTR’s residents don’t pay more than 30%.
Huffman said OTR’s apartments are designed specifically for wheelchair users. The apartments are equipped with accessibility features such as grab rails in showers and low cabinets, appliances and light switches in the kitchen.
Waitlists for these buildings are growing every day. For OTR’s Belden Apartments in Lincoln Park, waitlists are exceptionally high.
“There’s 60 people on that waiting list for eight apartments,” Huffman said. “I mean that’s not a 10-year waiting list, that’s a 50-year waiting list there.”
Waitlist times vary widely depending on building size and location.
Access Living is a Chicago-area “center for service, advocacy, and social changes for people with disabilities, led by people with disabilities,” as described on its website. Kate Polk, a staff attorney at Access Living, said Chicago should be doing more to address the accessibility crisis.
“Chicago has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to ensuring that the affordable housing that it builds is accessible,” Polk said.
In 2018, Access Living filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago, alleging the city was not complying with the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1991. According to Polk, Chicago’s failure to comply contributed to the city’s shortage of accessible housing.
“Chicago was just handing out money to developers to build affordable housing and not ensuring that it was accessible, though it is required to be,” Polk said.
The city issued a statement on behalf of the Department of Housing: “The City remains firmly committed to ensuring accessibility in all housing programs. We believe every resident has the right to live in a home that meets their accessibility needs, and we continue working to expand accessible options and strengthen compliance across our housing portfolio.”
A city spokesperson said they were unable to comment on specific details of the lawsuit. Seven years after it was initially filed, the lawsuit remains unresolved, and the need for accessible housing continues in Chicago. In the meantime, OTR is working to develop more accessible housing, one building at a time.
For Williams, the accessibility of OTR’s housing and the independence it provides have been life-changing.
“To be able to have options that can help you continue on gives you hope,” Williams said.
