Home Repair and Modification

Lack of a wheelchair ramp, stair railings or other safety features can make the difference between a safe and happy home, and an unsafe residence that virtually imprisons an older person or forces her or him to vacate.

	Marole Atkins of Columbia talks with Datron Gray, a member of the Our House Youth Home work team retrofitting her home as part of the Aging In Place Initiative. Fellow group home resident Simon Osborne puts the finishing touches on the ramp the young men built for Atkins.

The Aging-In-Place Initiative addresses this problem through a unique collaboration with Our House Youth Home, a residential program that trains at-risk males age 16 to 21 to work in construction trades. Through this program, county seniors receive an assessment of their homes and, if necessary, repairs and modifications that make the building safer and enhance the ability of the resident to function safely and flexibly within the home.

A typical client of the home repair and modification project was a 71-year-old woman who was confined to the first floor of her 2-story house because of a severe heart condition. Our House workers installed a ramp and new steps to make the walk from her bedroom to the bathroom safer. Another client was an 83-year-old woman with severe arthritis who now has a banister along the staircase she uses to go to her bedroom, another along the stairs at the back door, and bars to help her lower herself into the bathtub.

Richard Bienvenue, executive director of Our House, reports that there's an unanticipated bonus of the program in the form of interaction between the generations. "It's often said that the two forgotten segments in our society are the elderly and the young," he says. In this case, "it's a neat marriage. They are coming together. The elderly are getting something practical but they are also getting the benefit of socializing with the young people who are working on their homes. It's also been eye-opening for our students, learning what elderly people are like" and developing an appreciation for their past accomplishments, as well as an understanding of their needs.