With only scrap lumber and a sketch, 19 carpentry students from Wilcox Technical High School in Meriden constructed a new wheelchair accessible kitchen for Joe Luciano, 74, who lost the use of his left leg and arm following a stroke in 2005.

Prior to his stroke, Luciano said he had no idea about the significant problems disabled people faced, especially at home.

Luciano is part of the “Money Follows the Person” program, a plan administered by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy that looks to transition 5,200 elderly and disabled individuals to independent living housing by 2016.

Luciano made the move from a nursing home to Fallview Apartments on Deforest Street, where his kitchen window overlooks a small waterfall on the Naugatuck River. Plans to construct a gazebo and a wheelchair accessible walking route beside the falls are also in the works, Luciano said.

For more on this story, visit: Seymour students help disabled man get back his freedom- The New Haven Register – Serving New Haven, Connecticut.