Eufaula's Seth Lore and Irwinton Historic District holds more than 700 structures on the National Register of Historic Places, many of them Greek Revival, Italianate and Victorian homes along broad, tree-lined boulevards. Houses like these were built with full staircases between living floors and nobody planned for a lift when they went up. Out past Eufaula, in Clayton, Clio, Louisville and Bakerhill, the homes change to ranch-style houses, split-levels and manufactured homes, each with its own kind of stair problem.
This page walks through what those homes mean for a stair lift, how the rural layout of the county affects getting one installed, and which programs can help pay for it. If you are helping a parent stay in the house, or planning for yourself, start here and then make a couple of phone calls.
Fendall Hall, built in 1860, is cited as one of Alabama's most outstanding examples of Italianate architecture, and plenty of private homes in Eufaula come from the same era. Staircases in these houses are often long, and some turn or curve on the way up. A straight stairway takes a straight rail, while a turning or curved stair needs a curved rail made to fit that specific staircase.
Before ordering anything, we measure the stairs, check the landings at top and bottom, and look at where power can reach. In older homes that visit matters more, because no two antebellum or Victorian staircases are quite alike.
A ranch-style home usually keeps everyday living on one floor, so the stairs that cause trouble are often the steps up to the front or back door. An outdoor stair lift built for weather, or a platform lift for someone using a wheelchair, can solve that. Manufactured homes raise the same entry-step question.
Split-level homes are different. They put short flights of stairs between levels, so the right answer may be one lift on the flight used most, or more than one lift if a person needs to reach several levels. Single-family and detached houses with a full second floor generally fit a standard indoor straight or curved lift.
Barbour County covers 884 square miles of rolling East Gulf Coastal Plain, bounded on the east by the Chattahoochee River and the Georgia line, with the Choctawhatchee River system to the west. Eufaula, with 11,878 people, is the main town, and Clayton, the county seat, has 2,853. Everyone else lives spread across a lot of country.
That spread means families outside Eufaula are often farther from installers, home assessments and in-home care than seniors in more urban parts of Alabama. With 18.9 percent of the county's 17,233 residents age 65 or older and 59.9 percent owning their homes, a lot of people here are aging in houses they plan to keep. Planning the lift before a fall, not after, avoids a rushed decision.
Money is a real issue here. The county's median household income is $34,940, compared with $52,035 statewide, so many seniors need outside help to pay for home changes. The main sources are Alabama Medicaid waivers, USDA repair loans and grants, VA programs and local nonprofits.
Medicaid waivers are the most direct route. One Alabama source lists stair lifts by name as an approved waiver home modification, and the Elderly and Disabled Waiver covers home modification up to $5,000 per lifetime. SARCOA, the Area Agency on Aging for Barbour County, is where applications start.
The Barbour County Veterans Service Office in Eufaula can help sort out which VA benefits might apply. Statewide, the Alabama Ability Loan Program (STAR / Southern Disability Foundation) and the Alabama Senior / Disabled Homestead Exemption (H-2 / H-3) are also worth asking about. Each program is summarized below.
Alabama's largest Medicaid home and community waiver, for people 65 and up (or younger if disabled) who need nursing-facility level care, with home modification covered up to $5,000 per lifetime. The source does not name stair lifts specifically, so confirm with SARCOA or call (877) 425-2243.
For people living in a Medicaid-certified nursing home who want to move back into the community, with home modifications capped at $5,000 per lifetime. The named examples are ramps and doorway widening, and stair lifts are not mentioned; call (800) 362-1504.
This source explicitly lists stair lifts, transfer equipment and handrails as approved home modifications for people enrolled in an applicable Alabama Medicaid HCBS waiver, when medically necessary. Ask SARCOA at (334) 792-3195 which waiver a Barbour County applicant would use.
For adults 18 and older with a severe disability diagnosed before age 63 who need nursing-facility level care; services include environmental accessibility adaptations, though stair lifts are not named. Call (800) 441-7607.
The Area Agency on Aging serving Barbour County and the local intake point for the E&D and ACT waivers; its Neighbors for Seniors program builds ramps and installs handrails, and stair lifts are not mentioned. Call (334) 792-3195 or the Dothan office at (334) 793-6843.
Rural homeowners with income at or below 50% of area median income can get repair loans up to $20,000 at 1% interest, and those 62 and older may qualify for grants up to $7,500 to remove health and safety hazards. Stair lifts are not specifically mentioned, so confirm scope with the local USDA office.
Pays for permanent changes such as ramps, roll-in showers and widened doorways, up to $6,800 or $2,000 depending on disability status. It does not cover stair lifts, which the VA lists as excluded stair glides; call (800) 827-1000.
Grants for veterans with qualifying severe service-connected disabilities to build, remodel or buy an adapted home; the reviewed page does not name stair lifts. Confirm current maximums by calling (800) 827-1000.
The local office that helps veterans and dependents in Barbour County apply for VA benefits including HISA and SAH/SHA; stair lift coverage is not listed. It is at 303 East Broad Street, Suite 102, Eufaula, phone (334) 619-1511.
State-run grants that go to local governments, which then choose low- and moderate-income homeowners for housing rehabilitation; homeowners cannot apply directly and stair lifts are not listed. Ask the Southeast Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission about local activity, or call ADECA at (334) 242-0492.
Older adults
170 Fortner Street, Dothan, 36303
Veterans
303 East Broad Street, Suite 102, Eufaula, 36027
It can, if the person is enrolled in an applicable Medicaid HCBS waiver and the lift is medically necessary. One Alabama source lists stair lifts by name as an approved home modification, and the E&D Waiver covers home modification up to $5,000 per lifetime. Call SARCOA at (334) 792-3195 to confirm which waiver fits.
The HISA grant does not; the VA lists stair glides as excluded removable equipment. SAH and SHA grants do not name stair lifts either. The Barbour County Veterans Service Office at (334) 619-1511 can help a veteran see what other VA benefits apply.
Yes. The E&D and ACT waivers accept people under 65 who are disabled, and the SAIL Waiver serves adults 18 and older whose severe disability was diagnosed before age 63. All of them require nursing-facility level of care.
Usually, yes. Straight stairs take a straight rail, and stairs that turn or curve need a curved rail built to that staircase. We measure in person first, since the older homes in the Seth Lore and Irwinton Historic District vary a lot.
The USDA Section 504 program serves homeowners in eligible rural areas with income at or below 50% of area median income. It offers loans up to $20,000 at 1% interest, and grants up to $7,500 for homeowners 62 and older who cannot repay a loan. Stair lifts are not specifically named, so check with the local USDA office.
The Southern Alabama Regional Council on Aging is at 170 Fortner Street in Dothan, phone (334) 793-6843. It serves Barbour along with Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry and Houston counties.
Tell us about the stairs in your home and we will explain which lift fits, what it costs and how installation works.
