Program helps keep seniors in their mobile homes
Ryan Murray | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 3 months AGO
When Bertha Meyers came home to find her husband had taken a nasty spill down the flight of steps in front of her mobile home several years ago, she quickly called a number she had saved for just such an unfortunate occasion.
The number put her in touch with the Flathead Valley’s Senior Mobile Home Repair Program. In short order, the program was able to build a ramp for Meyers and her husband, greatly increasing their ease of living and the likelihood of staying in their home.
Since 2005, the program has helped 185 seniors keep their mobile homes in a condition that allows them to continue to live there. It keeps independent elderly adults at home, not to mention saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money.
Meyers recently hosted several board members and Lisa Sheppard, director of the Area IX Agency on Aging, for a $2,000 check presentation toward the program from Plum Creek Timber Co.
“I think it’s a great program,” Meyers said. “I’m sure there’s a lot more people that can use it. My kids want me to move to a small apartment, but I don’t want to do that.”
Meyers’ husband passed away last fall, but she stays in the mobile home they bought together more than a decade ago — something she might not be able to do were it not for the funds, labor and material provided by the Home Repair Program.
Jim Atkinson, Kalispell City Council member and founder of the program, said any person older than 60 who owns and lives in a mobile home in Flathead County and cannot do the work themselves is eligible for the program.
The program can do simple things, such as install a swivel chair in the shower. It also can do large renovations that can cost nearly $10,000. It just depends on the individual needs of the senior.
“Some are real easy-breezy things,” Atkinson said. “But some folks have really tough situations and need more help. There are no administrative costs. Every dollar pays for labor and materials.”
Entirely donation and foundation funded, the program itself takes no taxpayer money and doesn’t have to deal with the red tape from federal grants. The $194,799 used since the inception of the program has gone straight to contractor costs. This makes it an attractive donation target for community staples such as Plum Creek.
Rick Nelson, who runs the plywood plant for Plum Creek in Columbia Falls, told Atkinson that should he need some donated or discounted plywood, Plum Creek would be happy to help. The mobile home repair program uses offers like this to its advantage, taking donations and offers of help elsewhere before cracking into its own funds.
The program works directly with the Agency on Aging and Sheppard, who is excited to have a group keep seniors happy and at home. The agency uses its resources to help as much as it can.
“It’s all designed to let people stay in their homes as much as possible,” Sheppard said. “Someone will request an improvement, Jim or somebody will do an assessment and then bring it in front of the board.”
The eight-person board then decides what moves to make to get the person the requested help.
Plum Creek’s $2,000 grant, while generous, is just a drop in the bucket of needed repairs around the county. Atkinson said there is far more work to be done than money to spend, but this won’t stop him from doing what he can to improve the lives of seniors like Meyers.
Interested parties, either for donations or to find out more about the mobile home repair service, can call the Agency on Aging at 758-5730.
Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.