Katherine Ragazzino served with the U.S. Marine Corps as a employees non-commissioned officer (NCO) and a Employees Sergeant on two deployments with the thirteenth MEUSOC (Marine Expeditionary Unit Particular Operations Succesful).
Every little thing was regular for her in every day life till she suffered a traumatic mind harm throughout her 2004 tour in Iraq, resulting in her being medically retired. Earlier than transferring to New York from California in 2012, according to the amNY article published on Aug. 16.
Earlier than the prognosis, Ragazzino stated, “My signs had been adjustments in temper, incapacity to focus, focus and do peculiar duties that had been at one level extraordinarily straightforward for me to do.”
She said that it was a wrestle getting recognized by docs, and it’s nonetheless a studying course of by way of determining the way to do primary every day duties.
Ragazzino had a care supplier who helped her preserve her lifestyle as soon as she moved to NYC earlier than the caregiver resigned in June 2021.
It took 4 years for Ragazzino to safe housing on the Dayton Towers West condominium advanced after she was accepted into the Mitchell-Lama affordable housing program, which supplies reasonably priced rental and cooperative housing to moderate- and middle-income households.
“Every little thing was arrange for me; I had her from 2012 till 2021. She grew to become my VA caregiver in 2012 and went again from CA to NY for service and humanitarian work, in the direction of my remedy, we did well being and wellness retreats and varied therapeutic modalities to assist me heal,” Ragazzino added.
After her nurse left, she had specialised house well being aids are available in to help her every day. Following the warfare, her organs weren’t functioning in the identical means as earlier than. Aside from her TBI signs, she remains to be coping with residual continual accidents from the warfare. She additionally has nerve injury and different invisible disabilities.
She used a walker from September to October 2021. She had bodily remedy and was higher as of December 2021. She got here off my cane on Dec. 19, 2021.
Then, issues bought quite a bit worse when the fireplace occurred on Jan. 3, 2022. Ash and smoke, water and electrical injury, and flooding severely broken Ragazzino’s condominium.
She remains to be coping with the injury, which the Aug. 16 amNY article stated consists of “uncovered wiring, hallway ceiling injury, and a soot-covered balcony.”
“I requested them to take away the raised flooring and damages, nothing was ever performed,“ she said.
She fell in her condominium on March seventeenth, 2022, attributable to uneven flooring and has been receiving extenuating care and going to bodily remedy since then.
Whereas repairs had been being performed, Ragazzino needed to transfer out for over a 12 months. A number of different flooring within the constructing stay completely broken, affecting residents dwelling on them. The repairs within the constructing haven’t been performed effectively.
Ragazzino filed a lawsuit on Might 21 of this 12 months after transferring again into her condominium. It may very well be a category motion, as many different folks within the constructing have additionally been wronged by this example.
“Because the hearth, I’ve been reaching out to all native officers, the constructing division, the senator, the Meeting Member, the Council Member, the well being division, and HPD (housing preservation division), they usually have all been made conscious of the continued points, and that’s the place I’m at,“ she continued.
Different repairs that have to be performed embody cleansing the balcony, which Ragazzino requested the administration to do since transferring again. “The hallway is a standard space which remains to be sitting and ready for restore.”
As well as, she stated that the standard of life for her and different residents dwelling within the constructing has been affected for the reason that hearth, and that ought to have been addressed inside six months of it taking place.
“I am nonetheless strolling on plastic, ready for the work to be performed. The work was all haphazard, portray over non-clean buildings and partitions. Fixed battles. My entrance door remains to be not performed, as a result of it must be cleaned first and primed earlier than painted. I would like it to be performed correctly. There ought to be no cause the wires within the hallway are nonetheless uncovered.”
Ragazzino believes there ought to be an investigation into how they’re treating everybody.
She has had the next present expertise with ableism: “I did attempt to have a number of conferences with the constructing, they usually advised me I needed to come alone, which is why I took them to court docket. My condominium wasn’t completed till I went to court docket. They’re charging me for all of the court docket charges. They stated, “If you happen to don’t come alone, the assembly will probably be canceled.”
Ragazzino, by means of this lawsuit, sees herself as an advocate for the incapacity group.
“I sat on the sidelines and thought the elected officers would do one thing to help us as a substitute of simply placing a bandaid on prime.”
Ragazzino estimates that for the reason that hearth, the constructing has had its sixth assistant supervisor, and the main supervisor has been launched.
Ragazzino is asking for the mayor’s workplace to research the financials and administration, constructing security, and the way it must be reformed at Dayton Towers.“ Ragazzino hopes her voice helps the victims of previous fires, saying, “Different hearth victims haven’t any door on the condominium. I hope they get issues performed rapidly.“
“By coaching and when a state of affairs is offered, I’ve expressed that I am a disabled veteran, I want an in-person assembly. I can’t accomplish that effectively with emails, and many others,“ she defined.
When discussing advocacy, Ragazzino desires allies of the disabled to know this: “Everybody has various things; it might take a bit of bit of additional effort for the disabled group. Be open, particularly in case you are in a administration place, to have extra consciousness.”
“I had no steering. I did go to a number of locations and bought turned away. I used to be turned away a lot, and it takes a whole lot of work,“ she continued.
This is why, to her, it’s important to seek out “advocates and others educated inside the group that may help these with invisible wounds.”
In an emergency, Ragazzino desires these within the incapacity group to recollect: “Get as a lot independence for your self, and get folks and assist advocates that can assist you by means of this. Don’t hand over. Deal with your self first.”
