Kandiyohi County spreads across 862 square miles of rolling, partly wooded prairie in west-central Minnesota, with nearly 70 named lakes, including Green Lake, Nest Lake and Big Kandiyohi Lake. About 57% of residents live in and around Willmar, the county seat since 1871, and the other 43% live in rural areas and in towns like Spicer, Atwater, New London, Raymond, Prinsburg, Pennock and Kandiyohi.
Much of the county's older housing was built before universal-design norms, so a staircase is usually the only way to reach an upper floor or basement. This page covers how the local homes shape the kind of stair lift you need and which programs may help pay for one.
Kandiyohi County had 19,950 housing units in the 2020 Census, and 72.3% were owner-occupied. Most are single-family homes, along with split-level homes, townhouses, walk-up apartments and low-rise buildings.
A single straight flight in a single-family home or townhouse usually takes a straight stair lift, which is the simplest to fit. Split-level homes are different. They often have two or three short flights, and getting from the entry to the main floor may mean a turn or a landing, which calls for a curved lift or more than one straight unit.
In walk-up apartments and low-rise buildings, the stairs are often shared. If you rent, the building owner has to approve any installation, so it helps to have that conversation before we measure.
Minnesota's long, snowy winters make outdoor steps a real fall risk, not just the stairs inside. If the trouble spot is the front stoop, a deck or steps down to a yard, an outdoor stair lift built for the weather may be the better fit.
Where someone uses a wheelchair and cannot transfer to a seat, a platform lift is the option to look at. For the 43% of residents living outside the urban area around Willmar, it is worth planning for the entrance you use most in winter, since that is often a side or garage door rather than the front.
About 17.4% of Kandiyohi County's 27,086 residents are 65 or older, and many want to stay in the homes they already own. Moving the bedroom downstairs is not always possible in older homes, which is why a stair lift often comes up first.
If you or a parent served, the Kandiyohi County Veterans Service Office in Willmar can help sort out which VA benefits apply before you spend your own money.
There is rarely one grant that covers everything here. Most families combine sources, such as a Medicaid waiver, a VA benefit or a Minnesota Housing loan, with some private pay.
The clearest path for a stair lift is Minnesota's HCBS waivers, which list stair lifts among environmental modifications. For people 65 and older on Medical Assistance, the Elderly Waiver starts with a MnCHOICES assessment through Kandiyohi County Health and Human Services.
Homeowners who do not qualify for a waiver can look at the Minnesota Housing Fix Up Loan, whose accessibility version has no income limit. Each program is summarized below, along with who to call.
A Medicaid waiver for Minnesota residents 65 and older who meet nursing-facility level of care and want to stay at home; home modification assessment and installation are covered services, though this source does not name stair lifts. Apply through Kandiyohi County Health and Human Services for a MnCHOICES assessment, or call (800) 333-2433.
For people enrolled in the Elderly Waiver, CADI or Brain Injury Waiver, stair lifts and grab bars are among the environmental modifications that may be included when they are in the care plan. Call (800) 333-2433.
Offers information and assistance, Medicare counseling, caregiver support and a Return to Community program for older adults and caregivers. It works as a referral point rather than a funder, and stair lifts are not mentioned; call (507) 387-1256.
A center for independent living based in Sauk Rapids that serves people with disabilities and older adults in Kandiyohi County and nearby counties. Its listing does not mention stair lifts; call (320) 529-9000.
Pays for structural home changes with a VA physician's prescription, up to a $6,800 or $2,000 lifetime maximum depending on disability status. It does not cover stair lifts, since stair glides and porch lifts are excluded; the Kandiyohi County Veterans Service Office at (320) 231-6226 can help with VA questions.
Provides up to $126,526 for FY2026 for veterans who own or will own their home and have certain severe service-connected disabilities. The source does not name stair lifts among covered items.
Provides up to $25,350 for FY2026 for veterans with qualifying service-connected disabilities such as loss of use of both hands. Stair lifts are not specifically named as a covered adaptation.
A loan of $2,000 to $75,000 with no down payment, made through a participating Minnesota Housing lender; the accessibility version has no income limit. Stair lifts are not named as an example project.
A loan of up to $37,500 for income-qualified homeowners that is forgiven if you keep living in the home through the loan term, with an Emergency and Accessibility version for a household member with a disability. Stair lifts are not itemized in the source.
Older adults
2401 Broadway Ave., Suite 4, Slayton, 56172
Veterans
2200 23rd Street Northeast, Suite 2080, Willmar, 56201
It can through the state's HCBS waivers, including the Elderly Waiver and CADI, which list stair lifts among environmental modifications when they are part of your care plan. Call (800) 333-2433 or start with a MnCHOICES assessment through Kandiyohi County Health and Human Services.
The Elderly Waiver requires age 65 or older, but the CADI and Brain Injury waivers serve people with disabilities or chronic conditions, and those waivers also list stair lifts. The Minnesota Housing accessibility loans are not tied to age.
The HISA grant does not, because it excludes stair glides and porch lifts. The SAH and SHA grants fund larger home adaptations but do not name stair lifts, so call the Kandiyohi County Veterans Service Office in Willmar at (320) 231-6226 to ask about your situation.
The Minnesota Housing Fix Up Loan has an accessibility version with no income limit, offering loans from $2,000 to $75,000 with no down payment through a participating lender.
Sometimes. If the flights are separated by a landing with a turn, a single curved lift may run the whole way, or each flight may get its own straight lift. We measure the stairs in person to see which works.
The Southwest Minnesota AAA in Slayton is at (507) 532-3260, and the Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging is at (507) 387-1256. Independent Lifestyles, which serves Kandiyohi County, can be reached at (320) 529-9000.
Tell us about the stairs in your home and we will explain which lift fits, what it costs and how installation works.
