<p>I’m a rising college junoir, and today, I was offered an amazing internship in Seattle (not where I’m from nor where I go to school). Great!</p>
<p>But the problem now is that I need short-term (2 month) housing… and it has to be handicap (wheelchair) accessible, which makes things much more difficult. If I don’t get housing, I can’t take the internship and the internship site doesn’t provide housing assistance.</p>
<p>I’ve looked at Craigslist/facebook but most of those places seem to be inaccessible (though I did send out a couple of inquiries), and [origanization for my disability] doesn’t appear to have a chapter in Seattle.</p>
<p>Does the human resources department of the company where you have an internship have any ideas - perhaps an internal bulletin board where employees post things for sale, etc.? </p>
<p>Also, maybe try posting your own ad on craigslist under “housing wanted”? —</p>
<p>Even if there is no organization for your disability in Seattle, might there be an organization for another disability that you could contact? Somehow I doubt that your having a different condition would prevent them from sharing tips on finding housing, or lists of accessible housing. They might even put out an e-mail to folks in the area with accessible housing who might want to sublet, or something like that. </p>
<p>the easiest source of short term sublets are college students who want someone to take their spot for the summer in their 12 month off campus leases.Make a list of college campuses in the seattle area and contact their off campus housing office (do a word search on the college’s website mainpage for “off campus housing”) once you have access to the listings sort them out for accessibility or if you can contact those colleges disability offices and ask them for help.I can’t see them turning you down. Also, some campuses actually rent dorm space out in the summer to internship students.Check on that also. I also like the idea of doing your own Craigslist post,not just answering the ads already posted. This is the strategy S was going to use if his internship possibility in a resort town with scarce cheap housing had came about. The college listings strategy he was going to use if he wound up in Houston,although he was scanning Craigslist there as well.He ultimately wound up with an internship at home with free room and board.</p>
<p>Unfortunately Seattle University, U.Washington and Seattle Pacific U. only offer housing summer housing to their own students, and enrolled students, or students who are enrolling in the Fall. Is this unusual?</p>
<p>Is there a state-level or governor’s office for disabilities? Perhaps if you write about your opportunity, someone could help from the top down. </p>
<p>If you post on craigslist, be sure to refresh your own ad every several days. My kids did very well in housing and job searches by posting their own ads, after they had a feeling for the market by reading the want ads. </p>
<p>Your opportunity sounds exciting. Another way to approach this is to contact religious leaders (priests, ministers, rabbis) of congregations in the community. They know about their member families who might have accessible apartments or rooms they’ve built for their own relatives. It’s a good network to explore, just by cold email directly to the pastors. Usually these are right online with the congregation’s website info. Some aren’t online but available by telephone during weekday office hours. Good luck.</p>
<p>Google Center For People With Disabilities in Seattle. Most cities have resources to help the physically challenged. Also check with Social Services in Seattle, Health Department, City subsidized housing.</p>
<p>My son sublet an off-campus apartment from UW students (there were 2 others subletting as well, but he didn’t know them ahead of time). I don’t know if it was accessible, but it was on the first floor and I don’t remember any stairs. He found it on Craigslist. The only problem was he had to take the bus to his internship and it was a few blocks in a somewhat hilly area. He was on crutches for about 3 weeks and he said it was tough getting to the bus stop. Good luck.</p>
<p>They have three locations and they are basically extended stay hotels with small fridge, some utensils. They are elegant and cost about $1,500/mo.</p>
<p>Is this summer job or a true internship, (i.e. something required by your school)? </p>
<p>I would think any decent company offering a non-local student an internship would offer some kind of housing assistance, be it monetary or just advise, unless they are paying you well.</p>
<p>toblin, I don’t think a lot of internships have housing assistance. My D did an internship in Paris last summer and had to find housing on her own and has an internship in NYC this summer and again had to secure housing on her own. </p>
<p>I don’t know what you mean by “true internship” as you seem to qualify that as required through school. My D’s internships have nothing to do with school…not required, nor any help in finding them. They are still true internships (paid ones).</p>
<p>To the OP, you got some good suggestions on this thread. Best of luck.</p>
<p>I see your point but I’m old fashion I guess. An internship to my understanding is practicable work required by the school or the program you are in, and involving academic oversight and academic credit. (Much like student teaching). </p>
<p>What this sounds like to me is a summer job whose duties and/or corporate venue are somehow loosely within the umbrella of a particular academic major. </p>
<p>The term “internship” as it has been understood for many years has been corrupted to mean things other than it’s original meaning.</p>
<p>It depends on the size of the company at a particular location and number of interns they hire. If the # of interns are large they usually strike some deal with corporate housing providers and offer some assistance. For example my son had two internships in Boise, ID and they provided housing assistance. He had to share the 3-br apt. with two others - they took care of them. This year, he will be interning in Seattle. The company is very large, but has relatively small presence in Seattle and # of interns are also few dozen. He was on his own (they did provide some list). On the other hand 4-5 of his friends are interning at MSFT and they have similar deal as him when he went to Boise.</p>
<p>toblin
my S’s internship ,required by his academic dep’t,is in the Sports Management area. No venue’s, even the largest sports teams (think NFL,NHL,MLB) offered housing assistance or advice. Managing to find housing would have been up to him.</p>
<p>Son’s internship company actually has a facebook site for its interns and they were able to get to know each other. Some got together on their own and secured housing together. Ask your company if they have a way incoming interns can meet up.</p>
<p>OP here. Thanks for all the suggestions! I have looked into the inn apartments–they’d be great if one happened to have an accessible shower (I’ll call on that today). It’s the “accessible” part that makes things much, much harder, imo… Internship is through a government program, not my university, and is not for credit, though it is paid. They specifically said they do not help with housing.</p>
<p>All of the summer internships my kids have had are paid but not for academic credit and they found these on their own. There were only a handful of interns at each job. There was no help with housing. The term of their position was still “intern” and it was in their academic/career fields.</p>
Great!</p>
Internship is through a government program, not my university, and is not for credit, though it is paid. They specifically said they do not help with housing.</p>