A modest Evanston nonprofit is trying to solve a problem Chicago has largely left on the back burner: people who use wheelchairs have very few options when it comes to apartments that are both accessible and affordable. Over the Rainbow Association has spent decades putting up barrier-free housing and opened a 37-unit building in Lakeview late last year, yet demand still blows past what they can offer. Residents and advocates say the shortage backs many disabled Chicagoans into a corner, steering them toward nursing homes or unstable housing instead of the independent apartments they want.
Eric Huffman, president of Over the Rainbow Association, says the gap is glaring on the ground, telling reporters, “there’s 60 people on that waiting list for eight apartments.” As reported by WTTW News, Huffman noted that OTR now operates multiple buildings across northern Illinois and caps rent at no more than about 30% of a resident’s income. Units are designed with features like grab rails, low cabinets and roll-in showers. That blend of design and affordability helps people stay independent, he said, but it also turns waitlists into a long-haul ordeal many applicants simply cannot outlast.
Lakeview Landing and what it does
Lakeview Landing, a six-story, 37-unit development near Wrigley Field, is one of OTR’s newest efforts to chip away at the shortage. The Chicago Housing Authority lists the building as opening in October 2025 and notes it was developed in partnership with Lakeview Lutheran Church and OTR. According to CHA, a couple of apartments are set aside as permanent supportive housing while the remaining units are kept affordable.
A project summary from the National Equity Fund describes Lakeview Landing as fully accessible, with barrier-free layouts and features tailored to wheelchair users. In practical terms, that means residents can move through their homes and common areas without wrestling with stairs, tight doorways or kitchens and bathrooms that simply were not built with them in mind.
Belden rebuild shows the squeeze
Across town, OTR’s first Chicago property, Belden Apartments in Lincoln Park, tells a different story about scale. The building is still a small, two-story, eight-unit complex, according to the organization’s housing listings. A zoning application reviewed by Urbanize Chicago outlines a proposed replacement at 754 W. Belden: a five-story building that would add roughly 30 units, but only if it secures rezoning and aldermanic approval.
That contrast, between tiny legacy buildings and much larger proposed projects that remain on the drawing board, underscores why advocates argue the city needs a wider and faster push to make its affordable housing stock accessible. As they see it, scaling up from eight units here and a few dozen units there to something that meets real demand will require policy muscle, not just the persistence of one small nonprofit.
Legal push for accessibility
While OTR builds, disability advocates are also fighting in court. Access Living sued the City of Chicago in 2018, alleging that the city failed to ensure its subsidized housing complies with the Americans With Disabilities Act and related laws. Court filings lay out claims that many subsidized units lack basic accessibility features required by those statutes.
Federal filings in the case, available through public records, detail the relief Access Living is seeking from the court. The city, for its part, has said it “remains firmly committed to ensuring accessibility in all housing programs,” a stance noted in coverage by WTTW News.
No single nonprofit is going to close this gap, but OTR’s mix of fully accessible design and lower rents offers a concrete example of what policy changes and additional funding could do at scale. Developers, funders and city officials have pointed to Lakeview Landing as a model for partnership, even as organizers keep pressing for stronger enforcement, more money and faster timelines so that waitlists do not quietly turn into decades-long barriers to independent living. For now, OTR says it will keep adding units where it can, while advocates lean on the city and its partners for a systemwide fix that matches the size of the problem.
