One woman's particle wood floor broke. It wasn't expensive, but she didn't have money to repair it.
“It just collapsed. It just broke right in the middle,” said Sehnert, with Realty Maintenance/TerreCare, a property maintenance company.
Sehnert said programs for senior home maintenance are common across the country, in counties and cities large and small. They often rely on money from HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In Missoula, though, there's little aid for seniors who rely on Social Security and need extra money when siding wears away or porch steps rot, he said. Sometimes, people don't need money at all. They just need an able body to change a light bulb.
Now, the Office of Planning and Grants is beginning another round of taking applications for its HUD funds. This year, Sehnert wants to see an organization volunteer to run a program that would help people pay for less expensive but crucial home repairs.
The Missoula Aging Services has a small pot of emergency funds used to help people in dire straits. But executive director Susan Kohler said the Aging Services has been a beneficiary of Community Development Block Grant funds in the past and is judicious in its requests.
“We pick and choose what we ask for because it is limited funding,” Kohler said.
That isn't to say she doesn't see the need. Home maintenance is a concern the Aging Services is addressing (in part with Sehnert's help) and a service the agency wants to expand in the future.
“In the long run, it'd be nice to develop a system to be able to do that,” Kohler said.
The Human Resource Council offers home repair help in the form of loans, too. Sehnert, though, said the program isn't aimed at helping people who need just small grants or even labor. (HRC's program manager could not be reached Friday afternoon.)
OPG doles out HUD money in the form of CDBG and HOME funds. Nancy Harte, a grants administrator, said there's a perception that many of the lower cost homes in Missoula are mobile and manufactured homes.
“Some of those are not in the best condition and we would like to see people have good, safe, habitable places to live. And a rehab program can be an important part of that,” Harte said.
The CDBG administrator could not be reached Friday afternoon. Harte runs the HOME program, and has not seen anyone apply for a grant in the past for senior home maintenance.
“It's a perfectly good use of it and an eligible use of it, and we'd welcome applications for it,” she said.
So would Sehnert, who sees firsthand the people who would most benefit.
Reporter Keila Szpaller can be reached at 523-5262 or at Keila.Szpaller@missoulian.com.
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