Circumstances beyond their control led Joshua and Kelly Mauro to search for an affordable, handicapped accessible apartment. They found one at Stevens Corner in North Andover, a 42-unit rental community developed by Neighborhood of Affordable Housing and managed by Corcoran Management that received $985,000 from MassHousing via the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. This is the Mauro's story told by Kelly Mauro:

"Six months ago, I never saw this coming. My husband, Joshua, was working full-time; I was taking care of our son and the daily duties of our home. And then a phone call ripped away all of the stability out of our lives. Joshua had been in a car accident. After his surgery he was sent to the Spinal Cord Injury program at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. There, we started trying to figure out life with a wheelchair.

"At the time, we rented a house that had narrow doorways and loft bedrooms with ladder staircases. It quickly became apparent that our first order of business was finding suitable housing. A housing search is frustrating under normal circumstances. But with our new income limitations and accessibility requirements, it was almost defeating. Months of searching led to dead ends, until I found an ad for Stevens Corner.

"We were first told that we did not qualify for the handicapped unit, but the staff at Corcoran Management disagreed. They pushed for us to be approved and worked hard to make it happen. When Joshua and I showed up to sign for what we thought was a regular unit, we were surprised with the news that we were in fact getting the handicapped unit. That was first good thing to happen to our family in months. We were overjoyed to tell our son that his father was finally coming home, that we would once again be together.

"Stevens Corner is a wonderful community. You feel genuinely cared about and respected as a resident. We truly love living here. Which is, to me, what makes a home. A home isn't just a place you live. It's a place you love to live."