Program Components

Case History Mrs. A., a retired truant officer in a city public school system, has congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. At age 60, she can only walk about 10 steps before becoming out of breath. The Office on Aging sent someone to her home to assess her needs. Her ability to leave her house was severely limited by a steep step to the garage and, when she went out, she had to hold the door open with her cane. Our House installed a ramp to the garage and an automatic door, so now she can get to the car to shop and do other errands. "There's a remarkable difference. Now I can go outside and leave my home without fear that I won't be able to get back in. This has given me a kind of freedom I didn't have before," she says.

As Phyllis Madachy, administrator of the Howard County Office on Aging, explains, "Aging in place means that you may need some outside help or services to 'live in place.' The services are simply a way for essential activities to be done in a different way - with assistance from people, products or a change in routine. Getting dressed in the morning, caring for personal hygiene, balancing a checkbook, mowing the lawn, making medical appointments, keeping the house clean…."

The Horizon Foundation initiative consists of five complementary components,Home Repair and Modification, Fall Prevention, Mental Health, Affordable In-Home Care, and Planning and Evaluation.

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