A troubling reality is that many older adults, about 19 million, are living in homes that are in disrepair or inadequate for their needs and do not have access to resources to make these places livable. Greater Matthews Habitat understands the positive impact of growing old in your own home, so one aim of our Critical Home Repair Program is to partner with and help older adults in our community improve their homes and their quality of life so they can flourish where they live.
Partnering homeowners, like Arnett, are left with a new sense of pride and are able to remain and enjoy their homes for years to come.
Arnett doesn't worry anymore when the clouds over his home get heavy and swell, indicating a day full of rain. It used to mean he would have to start setting out buckets inside of his house to catch the water leaking through his ceiling. Now, because of a new roof through Greater Matthews Habitat's Critical Home Repair Program, he can just sit back and smile.
"It wasn't bad at first", Arnett says. "It was a small leak". But like many seniors, he is on a fixed, limited income - one that doesn't leave room for expenses on his home beyond mortgage and utilities. So Arnett hoped he could improve his ceiling on his own. "It seemed like the ceiling was messed up, so I poked a hole into it so it would drain into one spot. " While that helped with the buckets, now his ceiling was beginning to crack and he wasn't sure what he was going to do.
Then he received a mailer for our Critical Home Repair program. "I called, I did an application and within a couple of weeks I got a response." Within a few weeks, we were able to get him a new roof and Arnett was able to put away his buckets for good. "If you need some help," he says "they are the place you need to call".