Home repair help available for qualifying seniors
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 9 months AGO
Seniors may be eligible for grants to repair or improve their homes, including adding safety features like wheelchair ramps.
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Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | December 4, 2024 2:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — Seniors whose homes need a little upkeep may be eligible for some help. The government offers grants and low-interest loans for home repairs, and some nonprofits are available to help out as well.
“There's a really great program out there that supports seniors with home repairs,” said Rebecca Mabius, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Moses Lake. “They have a grant and a loan that equates to about $50,000. I always point people that way if we can't support something, like, ‘Hey, this is an opportunity. There's a $10,000 grant through USDA Rural. Apply for it. You're eligible for it if you're a senior.’”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Single Family Housing Repair program is perhaps not as well known as it should be. It’s offered through USDA Rural Development, and provides loans up to $40,000 and grants as high as $10,000, according to the USDA’s website. The loans are open to any homeowner who meets the other qualifications; grants are only available to applicants who are 62 or older.
To qualify, an applicant must:
• Be the homeowner and occupy the house
• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
• Be unable to obtain affordable credit elsewhere
• Have a household income that does not exceed the “very low” limit by county
• Reside in an area designated rural by the USDA.
In both Grant and Adams counties, the “very low” income level for a household of up to four people is $45,000, according to the USDA. For a household of five to eight, it’s $59,400. All locations in Grant and Adams counties are considered rural, whether within incorporated city limits or not.
Loans may be used to repair, improve or modernize homes or remove health and safety hazards, according to the USDA. Grants for seniors must be used for removing health and safety hazards, but that includes improvements like wheelchair ramps and walk-in tubs to improve accessibility as the owners age.
Loans are fixed at 1% interest, according to the USDA, and termed for 20 years. Grants must be repaid if the property is sold in less than three years.
The Federal Housing Administration also offers Home Equity Conversion Loans, according to its website. The HECM is a reverse mortgage program that enables you to withdraw a portion of your home's equity to use for home maintenance, repairs, or general living expenses. HECM borrowers may reside in their homes indefinitely as long as property taxes and homeowner's insurance are kept current.
On the private side, Habitat for Humanity International’s A Brush With Kindness program offers work on homes including siding and trim repair, roof and deck repair and wheelchair ramp installation, according to Habitat’s website. Individuals who receive Social Security, Medicaid or disability are eligible.
In A Brush with Kindness, the homeowner assumes a no-interest loan for up to four years from Habitat. The organization pays the contractor directly and the homeowner pays Habitat in monthly installments.
A Brush with Kindness is the program Habitat for Humanity of Greater Moses Lake is focusing on in 2025, said Mabius.
“We work with seniors, veterans and low to moderate-income families to live safely within their home,” Mabius said. “We'll do anywhere from small projects such as installing handrails, replacing tubs, to as large as helping with installing showers or other amenities within the home to ensure that they stay safe.”
For information about Single-Family Housing Repair grants and loans, visit https://bit.ly/USDARuralHomeRepair or call 360-704-7700. For information about A Brush With Kindness, visit https://bit.ly/KINDBRUSH.
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.