Keeping Seniors Home Success Stories

This sampling of success stories provides only a very limited sampling of the work being done statewide, and does not reflect all community action
partners.

The message on George White's answering machine underscores his sense of humor: "White House - George speaking." As White explained, "Well, my name is George and my house is painted white!" He also adds that he was born on Feb. 22, Washington's birthday. "My mother didn't want to name me Martha, so I'm stuck with George" he said with a grin.

Four years ago, however, White had very little to smile about. The retired sea captain and candle maker underwent open heart surgery. After tolerating the drafty conditions in his 200-year-old Winterport home for a number of years, which was kept warm by a woodstove and Monitor heater, White realized that he was no longer in good enough shape to lug wood or make improvements by himself. "I fell asleep fully-clothed in the living room on more than one occasion," he recalled. But things changed dramatically last year. While volunteering at the Winterport Food Cupboard one day, White heard about Keeping Seniors Home and the housing assistance programs available at Waldo Community Action Partners (WCAP).

The cost of the project was more than $26,000. WCAP leveraged enough money to finish the job from entities like the Maine Housing Preservation Grant fund and the Community Development Block Grant program. To show his gratitude for the agency's work, White signed up with WCAP's transportation service as a volunteer driver earlier this year.

A recently wheelchair-bound Bangor woman was referred to Penquis Community Action Program Keeping Seniors Home staff by Elder Independence of Maine. With no ramp access to her home, the ambulance service she used for transportation to medical appointments was refusing to transport her unless a ramp was built.

She and her husband were pleased when KSH staff from Penquis conducted a housing assessment on their older single family home. The couple also participated in the Keeping Seniors Home research survey—the “Fallon” survey.

By combining the resources available through Elder Independence of Maine and Maine State Housing Authority’s Elderly Hardship Grant programs, Keeping Seniors Home completed the ramp project in less than two months for less than $4,300.

An elderly couple in their mid-70’s called Keeping Seniors Home at Aroostook Community Action Program seeking help with some kitchen floor repairs. An ACAP Rehab Technician inspected the home and found it to be structurally sound, but in need of more extensive interior repairs to correct some health and safety issues. Home modifications for this elderly couple included:

Two new windows

Two stair well railings

New kitchen floor

New kitchen sink

New kitchen plumbing

New kitchen counters

Minor electrical improvements

With an investment of less than $10,500, this Aroostook County couple are enjoying a safer, more secure home and achieving their goal to remain in their own home.

York County Community Action Corporation helped an elderly couple in their 80’s through its Keeping Seniors Home program.

This couple lived in a home with no running water or inside plumbing and a not-to-code electrical hook-up. They heated with a wood stove. When the husband broke his hip and could no longer cut wood, the couple found YCCAC’s Keeping Seniors Home staff. These elders were living on social security income of less than $13,000 annually.

Connecting with a number of state, federal, and community resources, Keeping Seniors Home helped the couple move into a mobile home on their land. True community capacity building was evident in this project—the local excavator contractor donated his time and services. The local fire department demolished the unsafe home as a training exercise. Other community members got involved in the project, together donating over $3,000 in time and services. A combination of Federal Home Loan Bank, Maine State Housing Authority, HUD, and USDA Rural Development grants and loans paid for the $52,000 project costs.

People’s Regional Opportunity Program helped an elderly disabled couple in dire straits change their housing situation from living in an abandoned fruit stand to living in a safe and secure new modular home. By leveraging KSH resources with MaineHousing, City of Cumberland, Housing Preservation, and Department of Economic & Community Development investments, this couple and the husband’s twin brother’s circumstances have improved dramatically