Kewaunee County sits on the Door Peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan, and its people live spread out across Algoma, Kewaunee, Luxemburg, Casco and the farmsteads in between. About 60.0 people live per square mile, and the 2020 census counted the whole county as rural. That means a lot of older homes on their own lots, often a good drive from the nearest in-home service provider.
Many of those houses are traditional two-story or split-level farm and family homes with the bedrooms and the only full bath up a flight of stairs. If climbing those stairs has become hard for you or a parent, a stair lift is often the change that lets someone keep living in the house they know. This page covers what kinds of lifts fit local homes and where Kewaunee County residents can look for help paying.
Housing here is mostly single-family homes and detached houses, with some townhouses, walk-up apartments and split-level homes. In a two-story house with one straight run of stairs, a straight stair lift is usually the simplest and quickest fit. It mounts to the stair treads, not the wall, so plaster and trim stay as they are.
Older farmhouses often have stairs that turn at a landing or wind near the top. Those need a curved lift, built to follow the exact shape of your staircase, so we measure each one in person. Split-level homes are different again: they have several short flights, and the right answer may be one lift per flight or a plan that keeps daily life on one or two levels.
Walk-up apartments and townhouses raise their own questions, like who owns the stairway and whether the landlord or association has to sign off. Sort that out before ordering any equipment.
Plenty of rural homes have porch or deck steps, or a few steps down from a back door to a driveway. An outdoor stair lift is built to handle rain, snow and cold, which matters on a peninsula with Lake Michigan on one side and Green Bay on the other.
Where someone uses a wheelchair, a seat on a rail will not solve the problem. A platform lift carries the chair itself and is usually the better choice for an entry. Part of the Kettle Moraine reaches into this region, so some lots slope enough to put several steps at the door, and we look at the whole path from car to kitchen.
About 21.7% of Kewaunee County residents are 65 or older, and the county's median age was 43.8 years in the 2020 census. In a place built on dairy farms and manufacturing, many people want to stay on the land or in the town they worked in their whole lives.
If a parent served, check veterans benefits early, since some VA programs have strict rules about which equipment they will fund.
Start with the ADRC of the Lakeshore office at 810 Lincoln Street in Kewaunee. It is the intake point for Wisconsin's Medicaid long-term care programs. Of these, IRIS is the one whose official materials list home modifications as a covered service, and stair lifts fall under that category with consultant and budget approval.
Veterans can get help from the Kewaunee County Veterans Service Office in the same building. Know up front that the VA HISA grant specifically excludes stair glides, while the larger SAH and SHA housing grants do not name stair lifts and need to be confirmed case by case.
Homeowners age 62 or older with very low income may look at the USDA Section 504 repair program, which can fund work that removes health and safety hazards. Other statewide options worth asking about include the Community Options Program (COP), WisLoan (WisTech Alternative Loan Program) and the WHEDA Home Improvement Loan Program (HILP). Each program is summarized below.
A self-directed Medicaid program for Wisconsin adults 18 and older who are older or have a disability and meet the Long-Term Care Functional Screen; it lists home modifications as a covered service, and stair lifts fall under that category with IRIS consultant and budget approval. Call the IRIS Call Center at (888) 515-4747.
Medicaid managed long-term care for frail elders and adults with disabilities, run through a managed care organization that arranges approved services. The program page does not mention stair lifts or home modifications, so ask your ADRC or MCO; the phone is (800) 362-3002.
The local office at 810 Lincoln Street in Kewaunee for information, benefits counseling and intake for Family Care, IRIS and caregiver support; it does not list a stair lift benefit of its own. Call (920) 683-4180 or toll-free 1-877-416-7083.
Loans up to $40,000 at 1% for 20 years, and grants up to $10,000 for homeowners 62 and older with very low income in eligible rural areas. Stair lifts are not named, so coverage depends on the local Rural Development office accepting the lift as a health and safety repair.
A VA grant for medically needed structural changes, with lifetime limits of $6,800 or $2,000 depending on the disability. It does not cover stair lifts, as the VA lists stair glides among excluded equipment; call (920) 388-7198 for help with VA benefits.
Grants for veterans with qualifying severe service-connected disabilities, up to $126,526 for SAH and $25,350 for SHA in FY2026. Stair lifts are not named, so coverage must be confirmed case by case; call (920) 388-7198 to start.
County office at 810 Lincoln Street in Kewaunee that helps veterans, dependents and surviving spouses apply for VA benefits, including HISA and SAH/SHA; it does not fund stair lifts directly. Call (920) 388-7198, Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm.
A nonprofit serving people with disabilities in 17 Northeast Wisconsin counties, including Kewaunee, with a free durable medical equipment loan program and home accessibility assessments. It does not list a stair lift grant, so call (920) 490-0500 to ask about current options.
Older adults
810 Lincoln St., Kewaunee, 54216
Veterans
810 Lincoln Street, Kewaunee, 54216
Through IRIS, possibly. IRIS lists home modifications as a covered service, and stair lifts fall under that category if the participant's IRIS consultant and budget approve it. Family Care does not itemize stair lifts, so ask the ADRC of the Lakeshore at (920) 683-4180 what a care plan can include.
No. The VA lists stair glides among the removable equipment HISA does not fund. The Kewaunee County Veterans Service Office at (920) 388-7198 can help check whether other VA benefits might apply.
The USDA Section 504 program offers grants up to $10,000 to homeowners 62 and older with very low income in eligible rural areas, plus 1% loans up to $40,000. The lift would need to be accepted as removing a health or safety hazard.
Usually, yes. Stairs with a turn or landing need a curved lift made to fit that staircase, which is why we measure it in person before ordering.
The ADRC of the Lakeshore office in Kewaunee serves the whole county and is the intake point for Family Care and IRIS. Veterans can also call the county Veterans Service Office, located in the same building at 810 Lincoln Street.
Tell us about the stairs in your home and we will explain which lift fits, what it costs and how installation works.
