RITA AT HOME
Rita Harris pulls back the vertical blinds of her living room window.
“I’ve lived in Muskegon all my life,” she says, gesturing towards the neighborhood, “I can see the house I grew up in from here.”
Harris moves away from the window and perches herself on the edge of a cream-colored sofa. Her personal style pops inside her home of 25 years with a palette of natural tones: mostly beige and brown. She describes her aesthetic as modern with an appreciation for sparkle.
“My kids are trying to make me have color,” she says, laughing. (The exterior of her house was recently painted a vibrant blue.)
It’s hard to believe, given all its current Rita-charm, but the house--which originally belonged to her sister’s godmother--has undergone a great deal of transformation over the years.
“All the windows were boarded up and dry rotted when we first moved in. I’d been here for years without really being able to use the windows.”
A full replacement wasn’t an option for Harris, so she focused on other repairs as the windows rattled with the wind and kept the house cold and drafty. Then, when a leak sprang from her kitchen window earlier this year, Harris called 211 to find a handy person. That’s when she learned about the Senior Home Repair program--a program of Community enCompass, funded through the Muskegon County Senior Millage.
“I applied, and they called in the summer to say I was approved to get some new windows. I just wanted someone to get the kitchen window done, but they probably did twelve or thirteen windows.”
PRIORITIZING SAFETY AND ACCESS FOR AGING NEIGHBORS
The Senior Home Repair Program assists seniors sixty years of age or older who are at 50% Area Median Income with home repairs related to health, safety, and aging in place.
“Many seniors in our community live on a fixed income and don’t have the finances to take care of broken things, so they learn to live around them,” said Kimi George, Housing Rehab Specialist for Community enCompass. “The seniors here have been investing in the community for years, financial and otherwise. Through the Senior Home Repair program, we get to invest in our older population and make it more possible for them to stay in their homes, rather than moving into assisted living.”
This past year, the Senior Home Repair program repaired thirteen homes, totaling a $73,000 investment into the housing stock in Muskegon’s core neighborhoods. Along with window replacement, the program assisted local seniors with issues related to plumbing and flooring.
“Making spaces safe and accessible is a major point of interest,” said George, recalling a time her team relocated a laundry room for a senior neighbor.
“Miss Grace was 85 years old and doing laundry every day in the basement of her house—the same house she’d raised her children in. Making a space on the main floor changed her life.”
For Harris, too, the window replacement has made a noticeable difference.
“It’s not as drafty, and I don’t hardly hear the wind blowing or the windows rattling! I can use windows I’ve never been able to use before, and it made my home look a thousand percent better.”
In her dining room, Rita Harris sweeps her hands across the vertical blinds of a large window. They sway, and she smiles.
“I love my house. I love it.”
To learn more or to schedule an intake for the Senior Home Repair program, please call the Community enCompass office at 231-728-3117.
To learn more about the Muskegon County Senior Millage:
seniorresourceswmi.org/muskegon-county-senior-millage/
Author: Chelsea Tanis