Champaign and Urbana sit side by side and nearly surround the University of Illinois campus, and most of the county's residents live in or near that twin-city core. Beyond it, the county stretches across 998 square miles of flat central Illinois farmland, with smaller towns like Rantoul, Mahomet, St. Joseph, Tolono and Homer spread among the corn and soybean fields.
The homes where people stay for decades are mostly outside the student rental blocks. Urbana keeps its Downtown Urbana Historic District and an older, owner-occupied housing stock, and the small towns, from Fisher and Philo to Sidney and Ivesdale, are full of houses built with stairs in mind. That is where a stair lift usually makes the difference between staying put and moving out.
Campus-area Champaign has been adding tall apartment buildings, including a 14-story complex completed in 2014 at 6th and Green streets and a 27-story building planned at 308 East Green Street. That dense rental core is not where most stair lift requests come from.
The calls tend to come from Urbana, from Champaign's non-campus residential neighborhoods and from towns like Savoy, Lake of the Woods, Thomasboro and Ogden. These are places where people own multi-level homes and want to keep living in them.
Local housing includes single-family homes, townhouses, split-level homes, walk-up apartments and low-rise buildings. Each one puts the stairs in a different spot, so the first step is always looking at the staircase itself.
A single straight flight in a single-family home or townhouse usually takes a straight stair lift, which rides a rail fixed to the treads. Stairs that turn at a landing or wind around a corner need a curved lift with a rail built to that exact shape.
Split-level homes often have several short flights between floors. Each run may need its own lift, or for a wheelchair user a platform lift can be a better fit. We measure every flight before recommending anything.
The county sits on flat former prairie that was drained with ditches starting in the 1870s. Level ground does not mean a step-free entry, though, and many houses still have steps up to a porch or down to a side door.
If the trouble is getting into the house rather than getting upstairs, an outdoor stair lift built for weather exposure is an option. A platform lift can also work at an entry where a wheelchair has to come along.
Champaign County has 178,027 residents across 23 towns. Because of the university, the median age is 30.7, and 12.4% of residents are 65 or older.
Those figures matter for paying: most assistance programs require you to own the home or to get a landlord's approval, and veterans have a separate set of benefits to check.
Age shapes which door you knock on first. If the person needing the lift is under 60 and Medicaid-eligible, the Illinois Home Services Program is the one source here whose official page names stair lifts as an example of what it covers.
For someone 60 or older, start with Champaign County Regional Planning Commission Senior Services at (217) 819-4080 or the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging at (309) 829-2065. Neither funds stair lifts directly, but both can point you to current options.
Veterans can call the Veteran's Assistance Commission at 102 E. Main Street in Urbana, (217) 819-3556. Statewide programs such as the Illinois Community Care Program (CCP), the IATP ATLOAN$ Program and the Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption are also worth asking about.
A state Medicaid waiver for Illinois residents under 60 at application with a severe disability, and its official page lists stair lifts among example home modifications. Call (877) 581-3690.
The same waiver as described on the state HFS page, which covers home modifications for loss of function but does not mention stair lifts specifically. Call (877) 581-3690.
Funds ramps and interior home modifications for income-qualified households with a member who has a documented disability, including renters with landlord approval; stair lifts are not itemized and there is a waiting list of more than 800 people. Call (217) 525-1308.
Provides funds for health, safety and accessibility repairs for low- and very-low-income homeowners through local grantee organizations, though stair lifts are not itemized. Call (312) 836-5200.
An information, referral and care-coordination hub for older adults rather than a modification fund, and it does not list stair lifts. Call (309) 829-2065 for a referral.
Case management and referrals for Champaign County seniors 60 and older, by appointment only; direct funding for stair lifts is not listed. Call (217) 819-4080.
A VA benefit with a $6,800 or $2,000 lifetime maximum for medically necessary accessibility improvements, but it explicitly excludes stair glides and porch lifts.
Grants for veterans with qualifying severe service-connected disabilities, with FY2026 caps of up to $126,526 for SAH and $25,350 for SHA; the VA page mentions ramps and wider doorways but does not name stair lifts.
Older adults
1003 Maple Hill Road, Bloomington, 61704
Veterans
102 E. Main Street, Urbana, 61801
Yes, possibly. The Illinois Home Services Program serves Medicaid-eligible residents under 60 at application with a severe disability expected to last 12 or more months, and its page names stair lifts as an example. Call (877) 581-3690.
Call Champaign County Regional Planning Commission Senior Services at (217) 819-4080, which serves county residents 60 and older. Services are by appointment only, with no walk-ins. The East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging at (309) 829-2065 is another referral point.
The HISA benefit explicitly excludes stair glides. The SAH and SHA grants cover home adaptations but do not name stair lifts, so ask the Veteran's Assistance Commission in Urbana at (217) 819-3556 what applies to your case.
The Illinois Home Modification Program run through INCIL serves renters as long as the landlord approves. It does not itemize stair lifts and has a waiting list of more than 800 people, so apply early at (217) 525-1308.
Often it does, because split-level homes have several short flights. We look at each run and may suggest separate lifts or a platform lift, depending on who will use it.
Tell us about the stairs in your home and we will explain which lift fits, what it costs and how installation works.
