With winter fast approaching, many seniors are getting ready to do a little house decorating and landscaping on their property. Winter is also a tough time for seniors who may not afford the energy and fuel costs of heating and cooling their houses.
Individuals looking out for their friends and family members can offer to do a few home improvement projects, such as light fixtures or appliances replacements, that will help reduce those bills.
If you know of someone who will be doing this soon and has trouble with mobility or is under some financial constraints, here is a list of non-profits available to help seniors with a house tune-up this winter.
The Goodwill Organization
The wintertime is a great time to have your house tuned up by a professional. The harsh weather may cause unpredictable problems in your house, so getting these tune-ups done before winter is best. Unfortunately, though, many people cannot afford a tune-up this winter, and this could be dangerous for them because these professionals can find out what might be going wrong with your house.
However, some organizations like Goodwill offer free house tune-ups for seniors who live alone or have limited income. These organizations will do everything from changing smoke alarm batteries to changing furnace filters or air duct cleaning and chimneys if necessary. The Goodwill non-profit helps to provide items like beds or dressers for senior citizens who need them.
In some cases, they also provide other services, such as post-acute medical care, but there are eligibility requirements for this service in particular. They also have an Amazon Wishlist program, so people can buy the things the charity needs right from Amazon at no additional cost to themselves. You can find more information at Amazon Wish List for Goodwill. The neighborhood center at Goodwill is known to offer assistance in providing senior citizens with house tune-ups.
If you do not make a lot of money every month, the organization will work out deals where you can pay for the services you need at a price that is within your budget. You have to have faith that somebody will help you out in the neighborhood center because they are there to do good for people who are struggling financially or who live alone otherwise.
Goodwill’s community assistance program with Goodwill’s assistance, it might be possible for some seniors without extra income to get their houses tuned up this winter to have their houses ready before the cold weather hits them hard this season.
AARP’s Mature Independent Program (MIP)
This program provides a way for seniors and the adults who care about them to get help with household tasks that can become difficult as people age. For years, AARP has been working to help seniors get the most out of their retirement. One way that they accomplish this is through their Mature Independent Program (MIP), in which they offer a variety of different services that can greatly improve the quality of life for older adults and allow them to gain more independence and remain in their own homes.
AARP’s Mature Independent Program offers several home improvement services, such as minor house repairs, cleaning of gutters, pest control, plumbing services, lawn care, and snow removal. They also offer emergency road services so you will never be stuck on the side of the road again with anyone to come to your rescue. These are just some examples, but many other services may be useful to you.
What makes a home a haven is when it can weather the storms of life. This means that it needs some care and attention from time to time for it to be fully equipped to keep up with the challenges that may come its way. The Mature Independence Program offers a wide range of capable services that allow older adults to make their own decisions regarding what they are capable of doing themselves or if they would like help from trained professionals.
In addition, there are many other benefits offered by this program, such as health screenings, wellness videos, and advice on preventing frauds and scams aimed at seniors. All in all, AARP’s mature independence program allows seniors to stay independent while still being able to live in their homes.
The Clearbrook Foundation
The Clearbrook Foundation is one of the non-profits available to help seniors with a house tune-up this winter. Clearbrook provides services, but it also has an outreach program called The Energy Bus, which provides information on properly maintaining your heating system to avoid costly hot water heater repair services or, even worse, no heat.
The Energy Bus team can visit senior homes that have elderly residents who are unable to travel to town hall meetings, checking in with them and giving them valuable knowledge. They need to keep warm without breaking the bank. One of the main concerns faced by seniors is their heating bill. Clearbrook works hard to make sure the energy used inside the home is affordable for everyone who lives there. While weatherizing homes and checking the furnace are all part of The Energy Bus program, one of their most beneficial services is installing weatherstripping around windows and doors like the garage door in your home to keep cold air from creeping inside.
According to Clearbrook’s website, The Energy Bus was founded in 2010 to protect low-income customers from high energy bills by focusing on energy conservation education. This outreach initiative provides energy-saving awareness for those throughout Massachusetts who need it most. By speaking with people face to face, they can better assist seniors who have questions or concerns about their bill or want help understanding how to properly maintain their water heater and home heating systems so that they last longer.
The employees at The Energy Bus are professionals who take pride in providing assistance and support to community members. Clearbrook is a non-profit charitable, educational organization that provides health care and helps those with disabilities and mental illness live as independently as possible. In addition to these services, they also work on providing affordable housing for everyone in need.
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity has various chapters. The organization builds new homes and repairs existing ones for those in need of housing. This is for people living in poverty, spending more than 1/3 of their income on their home, or who are elderly. One of the most important things anyone can do to try and stay healthy is to maintain a clean environment.
For seniors, however, this task becomes increasingly more difficult as they age. Everything takes longer, from walking up the stairs to folding clothes, so it is too easy for a senior’s home to become cluttered and dirty over time. Thankfully, several non-profit organizations like Habitat for Humanity are now available to offer free house tune-ups for those in need.
Habitat has been around since 1976 and does amazing work helping families worldwide obtain safe housing by building new homes or repairing old ones. Although Habitat does focus primarily on building new homes, it also has a section called Habitat for Humanity ReStores. These non-profit home improvement stores accept donations of clean and gently used building materials such as doors, windows, sinks, cabinets, and furniture. The goods are then sold to the general public at heavily discounted rates, all with proceeds going back into Habitat’s mission.
Volunteers of America’s Adult Day Services
Volunteers of America’s Adult Day Services program provides services to low-income seniors who need health care and other support during the day while caregivers work or look for employment. They provide transportation, social activities, nutritious meals, and personal help with ADLs activities of daily living. Whether you need day service every day or only once a week, this might be an option that could ensure your independence at home during difficult winter months.
Club Senior is a not-for-profit program assisting low-income seniors in the Indian River County area. Seniors qualify for assistance by contacting the community service agencies or churches that offer this assistance. In addition, volunteers from non-profit organizations such as the Volunteers of America Adult Day Services program help seniors carry out their household chores and complete other tasks that can be difficult to do on their own.
By providing these services, the volunteer organizations give back to society by helping those who require assistance due to age or disability. Adult Day Services is a daycare center that provides socialization opportunities for older adults during daytime hours while caregivers are at work. The center offers workshops, exercise programs, and support groups where clients can learn skills to improve their lives.
Assistance with personal hygiene and changing diapers is also available for those who need this type of assistance. Volunteers of America is a non-profit organization that provides various services to help low-income adults and senior citizens stay out of nursing homes. The Adult Day Services program helps seniors remain independent at home by providing transportation, light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders, and other services designed to keep them healthy and out of institutions where they would spend the remainder of their lives.
Volunteers are required for these programs and donations from the community to continue the initiatives that make Club Senior possible. Many seniors are unable to undertake tasks as simple as cleaning. Such practices are vital for any renovation, including a bathroom remodeling project. With assistance from a non-profit organization, it can be easy to undertake a home tune-up in readiness for winter to keep the seniors healthy.
The National Council on Aging
There are many nonprofits available that will help seniors with home repairs. Unfortunately, many seniors do not know about these resources or how to access them. By reaching out to your local community, you can find the appropriate resources for your needs, saving yourself time and money to fix up the house this winter.
The National Council on Aging has a Home Repair Program. This makes certain repairs in the homes of low-income older adults with physical disabilities or who are aged 60 years or older. There are three categories of assistance provided by this program. Minor Home Modifications service allows technicians to remodel homes with handrails, walk-in bathtubs, wheelchair ramps, grab bars, and more to make the home safer.
Emergency Repairs are repairs that cannot be postponed. This may include furnace repair or replacement, residential roofing services, electrical wiring updates, plumbing problems, etc. Preventive maintenance includes minor painting projects, weatherizing measures such as caulking or insulation, and cleaning gutters.
The Rebuilding Together Organization
The Rebuilding Together organization has a long history of building affordable homes for low-income families and providing housing rehab services, including exterior home repairs such as replacing the roof, repairs to the heating and air conditioning systems, painting, siding replacement, or installation of grab bars in bathrooms. The Rebuilding Together is one of the non-profits available to help seniors with a house tune-up this winter. Seniors who need assistance can pick or choose from many options. For instance, some agencies do weatherization work for free, while others provide things like plumber services and electrical work for a low cost.
The Rebuilding Together helps provide accessibility adaptations, so seniors’ homes are more functional. This includes handrails in tubs or showers, widened doors or hallways, kitchen counters at different heights, cabinets designed to accommodate wheelchairs, etc. Depending on what needs are identified, an assessment of each home takes place to determine what changes need to occur to improve safety and functionality. The non-profit organization provides all the necessary materials and labor like roofing contractor services to complete the projects.
Many seniors struggle financially, so non-profits are one way they can get help with repairs or modifications needed. The non-profit organizations work with other community groups, volunteers, contractors, and donors, which helps keep costs lower than average for seniors who receive assistance.
Contact your local county offices or go online for more information about emergency repair programs offered by many agencies like Rebuilding Together if you need assistance or know someone who does.