Is there any way to get aid when making a home accessible?
I guess this is “part 2” of my catheter question from before. And, I know this type of question is state specific. The floor below hubby’s hospital bed is in truly bad shape. The vinyl planking, at least, will need to be removed and the floor repaired. Hubby and I were talking last night about doing something to make our home more handicap friendly, specifically widening some doorways so his powerchair would fit through. This is obviously not a job for Weekend Warriors. Has anyone done the runaround of local agencies to see if there is financial help for this sort of thing? Are there construction companies in existence who could help? (Don’t need names/numbers, just need to know if such a company exists). What kind of agency would I call? Local Area Agency on Aging? Any help, as usual, much appreciated.
23 Answers
Popular Questions
Related Questions
- My mother-in-law is in need of a higher toilet is there financial help for both purchasing and installing of equipment that she needs?
- Are there any agencies that would assist financially in installing a whole house generator?
- What bathroom vanity choice provides the best support?
- Can I ask my father to stop stalking me?
Contact the local Alzheimer's Assn. and ask for the individuals who maintain the lists of referrals of various sources. I got good lists from them for private duty, hospice care providers, retrofit contractors, etc.
The AAA can also provide lists, but it takes them a week to do so. ALZ e-mails lists, w/in 1/2 hour in my experience. The AAA also holds Caregiving Expos, in the fall in our area, and retrofit/adaptive contractors typically have booths and photo albums of their projects. But that's several months to wait for an expo.
I would do this: Contact the Alzheimer's Assn. so you can get referrals now; contact the AAA also but expect to get nothing for a week or so (although this may be a local problem with not getting information out quickly).
Contact local Senior Centers or Senior Centers in upscale areas (more likely to have senior expos), and ask when they're having their own Senior Expo. At least 3 in my area have smaller expos, generally with limited contractors b/c of limited space (no room for big van demos).
When I contacted the outstanding code enforcement people in my father's area and asked for retrofit recommendations to modify an existing exterior ramp, they only could provide one reference. I called; the owner was an arrogant fellow who wouldn't even come out for an estimate. He told me to take photos and come to his office to discuss the issue. It was the first ever time I've been told that an estimate wouldn't be provided on site. It was clear he wasn't interested in that kind of project.
I don't know about financial help except for Veterans, and there are funds available for adaptive projects.
As to Weekend Warriors, if you or your husband are Veterans, there's a group of Veterans and volunteers who voluntarily assist in post-disaster cleanup, remediation, and basic assistance. My mind is a blank right now and I can't remember the name, but I'll try to and post back later after visiting my father.
If you're in Michigan, let me know and I'll dig out my brochures from past AAA expos and provide names of local contractors, some of whom may be affiliated with or local offices of major companies.
It would be great if you could get some assistance for the flooring issue. Would you care to advise us what state you are in? Maybe someone would have some ideas for your state.
But I contacted ours re that same program, had an estimator come out, and he wanted to do a lot of work that wasn't necessary. It was also clear that he was in a noncompetitive position because he didn't know how to estimate or compete with other contractors. He even indicated he had wanted to work for a government agency.
His estimate was 5 times what I paid a professional contractor. He was also belligerent and became annoyed and critical when I told him I didn't need all the work done that he proposed to do. Although I didn't say, I felt it was definitely a rip-off.
I had the same experience as you with one of those Home Insurance places. When our hot water tank blew, I called them to send someone to fix it. They sent a plumber who had to travel 45 minutes just to light the pilot. It blew out again a day later and this time he didn’t even show up. What looks great in theory doesn’t always work in reality.
If your Husband is a Veteran there are programs, Grants through the VA that will pay for adaptations.
Some Senior groups have lists of "handymen" that may do work like this and usually they are lower cost.
Check you local High School or Community College. If they have a program (Used to be called Shop Classes...showing my age!) that teach the students building, codes, how to adapt current buildings to make them accessible they may be interested in doing some work. I am sure you would have to pay for supplies. It would be worth a call. If they do not have a program that would do this for you they may have a list of graduates that are looking for work.
I found the best Caregivers this way, got 2 recent graduates in the Nursing program that had been certified as CNA's and it was before the Nursing programs started. I told them I would be very willing to work around their class schedules when it cam time to scheduling them.
See All Answers