Category: HomeMod

Woburn Senior Center fall festival set for Sept. 28

August 23, 2012
Woburn Senior Center fall
festival set for Sept. 28
GateHouse News Service
Posted Aug 23, 2012 @ 04:57 PM

Woburn, MA — The Woburn Senior Center, 144 School St., will hold its annual Fall Festival on Friday, Sept. 28
Open House and Health Fair from 9 a.m. to noon, lunch and door prizes at 12:15 p.m. All age groups are welcome to attend. Lunch tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. on the day of the event on a first-come-first-serve basis for $3 per lunch.
Fall festival participants: AAA, ABC Home Healthcare, A Caring Place, All Care Resource, Apex Hearing, Atlantic Audiology, Atria Longmeadow Place, Aviv Adult Day Health Center, Best Home Care, Blaire House at Tewksbury, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Brightview Country Club Heights, Caregiver Homes of MA, Inc., Center for Cancer Support, City of Woburn Board of Health, Comfort Keepers, Cooperative Elder Services, Council of Social Concern, Council on Aging Transportation Department, DEAF Inc., Drawing Class Art Exhibit, Edward Jones Investments, Friends Helping Seniors, Gosselin Law, Greater Medford VNA, Griswold Home Care, Handyman Matters, Hallmark Health VNA, Hallmark Health Hospice & Lifeline, Hearthstone Alzheimer Care, Home Instead Senior Care, Home Modification Loan Program, Hospice of the North Shore, Joe Brown Digital Photography, Knit-Wits – Knitting/Crocheting Club, Law Offices of Spano & Dawicki, Lexington Health Care Center, Longwood Place at Reading, Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, Mass Relay, Matthew Kruger, MD – Eye Associates, Metropolitan Home Health Services, Minuteman Senior Services, Miracle Ear Hearing Center, New England Rehab, New Horizons at Choate, Noreen Murphy – Attorney At Law, NStar, Organizing Works, Peoplefit, Poison Control Center, Reading Co-operative Bank, Right At Home, Salem Five, Salter Healthcare, Inc., Samaritans Inc., Scrapbooking Group Exhibit, SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs), Social Security Administration, Social Capital Inc., Stilmee Alzheimer’s Coaching, Tidd Home, Tufts Health Plan Medicare Preferred, Visiting Angels of Mass, Visiting Nurse & Community Health, VNA Middlesex-East & Visiting Nurse Hospice, Wilmington Health Care, Winchester Hospital, Winchester Lifeline, Winchester Savings Bank, Windsor Place/Woodbriar, Woburn Council on Aging, Woburn Guild of Artists, Woburn Guild of Carvers, Woburn Historical Society, Woburn Police Department, Woburn Public Library, Woburn Veteran’s Services, and Youville Assisted Living Residences.

Copyright © 2006-2012 GateHouse Media, Inc.
URL: http://www.wickedlocal.com/woburn/newsnow/x1733880069/Woburn-Senior-Center-fall-festival-set-for-Sept-28#ixzz25Wf92Ceq

SourceWicked Local Woburn

A loan granted, a life grown smoother

July 26, 2012

A loan granted, a life grown smoother
By David Rattigan, Globe Correspondent

This is not about a wheelchair ramp, but about the change it can create.
“Prior to having the wheelchair ramp, Donald was basically housebound, because he wasn’t able to use his legs,” said Elizabeth Langosy, 62, of Medford, speaking about her husband and a modification they made to their home through a state low- and no-interest loan program.
The loan is part of the state’s Home Modification Loan program, which provides help to people requiring modifications to their home due to disability or age. Earlier this year, the program reached a milestone when it gave its 1,500th loan.
The Langosys were not the recipient of that particular loan, but are a good example of the change the program can make in people’s lives.
Donald, 64, is a painter whose work is featured in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts as well as The Fogg Museum, the oldest of Harvard University’s art museums.
He also has secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis, which means at different times, his legs go completely limp or stick out rigidly. Before the installation of the ramp, it was s struggle for Elizabeth, her two daughters, or a son-in-law to maneuver Donald out of the house and into the car.
“Often we would try to get him to a medical appointment, and I would just have to cancel it because we would be hours and hours late, no matter how early we started,” Elizabeth said. “It would also be difficult and humiliating for Donald, as we tried to bring him up and down the stairs of the house that way. And people are funny, too. People would just hurry by without offering to help. I think there’s a shyness in the world about disabled people.”
With the installation of the wheelchair ramp leading from the porch of the home they bought with their daughter’s family, leaving the house became as simple as wheeling him down the ramp. He’s signed up for The Ride, which provides transportation for those with disabilities, and also with the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at Mount Auburn Hospital, where caregivers helped him acquire a new, more versatile wheelchair.
“We’ve even gone for some walks around the neighborhood,” Elizabeth said. “He’s gone from being completely restricted and home all the time and having even a simple doctor’s appointment being almost impossible, to being more able to be more involved with the community, and his doctors.
“It’s made an enormous difference. I almost can’t put into words the how much of a difference it’s made to have that door opened for him.”
Ditto for the other changes the Langosys were able to make with the $30,000 loan, specifically modifications that transformed their closet-sized bathroom to something much improved for Donald’s needs.
“The bathroom is really a nice room now. It’s actually the nicest room in the house,” said Donald, possessor of a sly sense of humor. “When you come over, we can have cocktails in the shower.”
Donald and Elizabeth Langosy were able to open that door by using a no-interest loan from the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, plus grants of $1,000 from Mystic Valley Elder Services and $2,000 from the MS Society.
“We have a survey people fill out at the end of their projects about their experience, and the glowing things that people say about how it’s changed their life is really rewarding,” said Susan Gillam, program and outreach coordinator for the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, which administers the Home Modification Loan Program statewide through six regional nonprofit housing organizations that work directly with consumers during the application process. North of Boston, those include the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership and Community Teamwork, Inc. of Lowell.
According to statistics provided by the corporation, through January, $33 million had been loaned through the program since 2000, to people in 227 of the state’s 351 cities and towns. Almost 80 percent of those have been no-interest loans, the average loan is slightly more than $22,000, and the money has gone to creating or altering 554 bathrooms and 575 ramps or lifts.
“With a relatively small dollar amount you can really have an impact,” said Karen Kelley Gill, the Community Economic Development agency’s deputy director and chief financial officer.
“It’s not the easiest thing to take advantage of, because there’s a lot of paperwork involved,” said Donald Langosy. “But when it happens, it’s fantastic. I’m just a humble painter, and my wife’s a writer, and we could have never made these changes in our life except for this program. It was a godsend.”
For more information, go to www.mass.gov/mrc/hmlp.
David Rattigan can be reached at Drattigan.globe@gmail.com.

© Copyright 2012 Globe Newspaper Company.
URL: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/07/26/a_loan_granted_a_life_grown_smoother

SourceBoston Globe

CEDAC Mod Loan Program Completes 1,500 Loans

Wednesday, March 28, 2012
CEDAC Mod Loan Program Completes 1,500 Loans
Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) has approved its 1,500th no- or low-interest loans to help people remain in their homes. The program is aimed at homeowners or families with a disabled or elderly member.
CEDAC works in cooperation with the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) to administer the Home Modification Loan Program to provide loans of up to $30,000 for eligible homeowners to finance such things as the addition of ramps and lifts, kitchen and bathroom modifications, and the widening of doorways and floor renovations.
“This is a tremendous milestone for this quietly successful program,” said Roger Herzog, CEDAC’s executive director, in a statement. “The Home Modification Loan Program keeps disabled or elderly family members in their own homes by helping them make the renovations necessary to meet the needs of a disabled or elderly family member. It saves the state money by not forcing these men and women to move to nursing facilities and ensures that quality housing is available.”
As of January 2012, more than 1,500 loans equaling more than $33 million have been made since 2000, with the average loan being a little more than $22,000. Almost 80 percent of those loans are no interest loans. The modifications that have been completed with these loan funds include 554 bathrooms, which have been altered to meet the needs of residents, and 575 ramps and/or lifts have been installed. Modifications have been made in 227 of the 351 communities across the commonwealth. The funding for the projects comes from the state capital bond fund allocated annually by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance.
CEDAC and MRC works with six regional provider agencies that provide geographic coverage across Massachusetts. The provider agencies, which include Community Teamwork, Inc., HAP, Inc., Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, RCAP Solutions Financial Services, Inc., and South Middlesex Opportunity Council, Inc., collect applications and background information, draft loan documents and inspect the homes of potential borrowers before and after the project.
“The Home Modification Loan Program makes a tangible difference in people’s lives,” said Christopher Norris, executive director of the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership (MBHP). “It allows families to stay together in their own homes and preserves the dignity of people with physical and cognitive disabilities while also saving the state money that would otherwise have to be spent for long-term medical care and hospitalizations. I am very happy that MBHP has played and continues to play a part in the implementation of this very successful program.”

URL:http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/news149308.html?utm_source=EmailDirect.com&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=B%26T+Daily+3%2f28%2f12+Campaign
Banker & Tradesman ©2012 All Rights Reserved

SourceBanker & Tradesman

NO-INTEREST LOANS HELPING PEOPLE STAY IN HOMES

March 21, 2012
NO-INTEREST LOANS HELPING PEOPLE STAY IN HOMES: A community development group on Tuesday said it has surpassed 1,500 low and no-interest loans under an 11-year-old program aimed at helping seniors and disabled individuals to stay in their homes by installing lifts and ramps, widening doorways and making bathroom modifications. According to the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, loans worth $33 million have been made since 2000, with the average loan being a little more than $22,000. Almost 80 percent were no-interest loans, with funding to provide the Home Modification Loan Program loans coming from state government’s capital budget. Supporters of the loan program say it helps Massachusetts residents to stay out of nursing homes and remain close to family and friends. In a statement, CEDAC executive director Roger Herzog called it a “quietly successful program.” 9:15 A.M.

© Copyright 1997-2010 State House News Servic

SourceState House News Service

NO-INTEREST LOANS HELPING PEOPLE STAY IN HOMES

State Capitol Briefs – March 21

By State House News Service

NO-INTEREST LOANS HELPING PEOPLE STAY IN HOMES
A community development group on Tuesday said it has surpassed 1,500 low and no-interest loans under an 11-year-old program aimed at helping seniors and disabled individuals to stay in their homes by installing lifts and ramps, widening doorways and making bathroom modifications. According to the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, loans worth $33 million have been made since 2000, with the average loan being a little more than $22,000. Almost 80 percent were no-interest loans, with funding to provide the Home Modification Loan Program loans coming from state government’s capital budget. Supporters of the loan program say it helps Massachusetts residents to stay out of nursing homes and remain close to family and friends. In a statement, CEDAC executive director Roger Herzog called it a “quietly successful program.”

Copyright 2012 The Hingham Journal. Some rights reserved
URL: http://www.wickedlocal.com/hingham/newsnow/x271612607/State-Capitol-Briefs-March-21?zc_p=1#axzz1pxlUixEA

SourceWicked Local Hingham

5 Things You Need to Know Today, 4/4

Patch Facts

5 Things You Need to Know Today, 4/4
Town Meeting and more for April 4.
By Emily Sussman

1) Today, rain is likely with patchy fog. It will be breezy, with highs around 50. The chance of rain is 70 percent. Tonight will be mostly cloudy, with a chance of rain in the evening, then a chance of showers after midnight. Near steady temperatures will be in the mid 40s.
2) It’s time for Annual Town Meeting! Check out the important issues up for a vote tonight at 7 pm at the Lawrence School—even if you’re not a Town Meeting member, you can still watch the proceedings.
3) The Falmouth Council on Aging will be hosting a seminar on walk-in baths and stairlifts today at 1 pm. The presentation on these senior-friendly features will include information on the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission’s Home Modification Loan program. For more information, please call 508-540-0196.
4) The Master Gardener Association of Cape Cod and the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension is offering eight weekly classes in Backyard Horticulture at the Barnstable County Fairgrounds on Mondays from 12:30-4 pm. Pre-registration is required and the cost is $50. For more information, please call 508-375-6697 or email tramose@barnstablecounty.org.
5) This day in history: writer Maya Angelou is born (1928); the NATO pact is signed (1949); and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated (1968).

Copyright © 2011 Patch. All Rights Reserved.
Hyperlink: http://falmouth.patch.com/articles/5-things-you-need-to-know-today-44-2

SourceFalmouth Patch

Home Modifications Made Affordable

SourceWicked Local

State program aids family

State program aids family

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

By JIM DANKO
jdanko@repub.com

AGAWAM – Until recently, Kaitlyn M. Chevalier, who uses a wheelchair, was unable to join her family for meals at the kitchen table.

A wall between the family room and kitchen created a space in the sitting area that was too tight for Chevalier, 18, so she sat in a spot in the kitchen away from the table.

What’s more, the kitchen floor was a step higher than the family room floor. The Chevaliers installed an aluminum ramp, and family members had to push her from one room to the next.

“It wasn’t easy,” her father, Ronald G. Chevalier Jr., said on Sunday from the family’s home at 39 Forest Road.
But with help from a state program, the Chevaliers have been able to pay for modifications. Chevalier said the family obtained a $30,000 loan at 3 percent interest to add a ramp to the front of their home, widen doorways, take down walls and install a lift to help Chevalier use her bed and bath.

The renovations were completed between spring and August, he said. They were allowed to hire the contractor of their choice and picked Mark Pagios Construction, of West Springfield, Chevalier said.

“Modifications like these can make all the difference in the lives of the elderly, adults and children with disabilities,” said Deborah L. Broaden, director of homeownership services for HAPHousing, a housing and homeownership agency for Hampden and Hampshire counties which administers the state loan program in the Springfield area.

The state loans range from $1,000 to $30,000. The program offers 0 percent to 3 percent deferred payment loans, depending on household income.

Homeowners with disabilities, or who live with household members who have disabilities, are eligible. Landlords with tenants with disabilities may also apply for the loans, according to HAPHousing. Prior to the renovations, Ronald Chevalier said he had to lift his daughter into the bathtub. The house was not designed for someone who uses a wheelchair, so the doorways needed to be expanded to 36 inches wide and lifts were installed.

“We just opened up the house as much as we could,” Chevalier said.
Chevalier, a reservist who works at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, and his wife, Kelly M., a nurse at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, have two other children, Rebecca M., 19, Kevin P., 15.
Kaitlyn Chevalier, who suffers from a seizure disorder and a neuromuscular disease called mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, has developmental disabilities that leave her unable to speak. She was able to walk until about three years ago, when she started using a wheelchair, her father said.

Like most teenagers, she enjoys watching movies and listening to music.
The modifications to her bedroom, which included the tearing down of a wall to double the size of the room, allowed her parents to install a large-screen television on the wall, her father said.

“Some of these subtle differences make a huge impact on our lives. Just the space alone,”

Chevalier said from his daughter’s modified bedroom. “We just opened up the house as much as we could. This was a help from a mobility standpoint. With this space here, we can create a more stimulating environment.”

HAPHousing and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission administer the Home Modification Loan Program in Western Massachusetts.

Residents of Agawam, Chicopee, Holyoke, Northampton, Springfield, West Springfield and Westfield interested in the program should contact HAP for more information. People living in all other Western Massachusetts communities should contact the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.

©2009 The Republican
© 2009 MassLive.com All Rights Reserved

SourceThe Republican (MassLive.com)

COA sponsors home modification seminar

COA sponsors home modification seminar

January 22, 2009 3:20 PM

MIDDLEBORO — “There’s No Place Like Home,” a program on home modifications for the elderly and disabled sponsored by Golden Living Center-Oak Hill and the Middleboro Council on Aging will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at the Leonard E. Simmons Multi-service Center (COA), 558 Plymouth St.

The Home Modification Program, a program of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission in collaboration with the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, provides low and no-interest loans for modifications to allow people to remain in their homes and live independently in their communities. The loans can be used to install ramps, lifts or grab bars and to widen doorways for elders, adults with disabilities, and families with children with disabilities. The program is also designed for landlords who rent to those with disabilities.

Snow date is Jan. 29. Those planning to attend should call the COA at 508-946-2490 to reserve a seat or check on the date in case of snow. Refreshments will be provided.

Stable URL: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090122/PUB04/901220407

SourceSouthCoastToday.com/Gazette

No Title (HomeMod Ad)

HOMEOWNERS LANDLORDS

Financial assistance is available to modify the homes of persons with disabilities and frail elders.
To encourage and support independent living, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts makes loans to homeowners, often at 0%
interest, and low interest loans to landlords. These loans finance dwelling modifications and the installation of certain types of
equipment to help ensure that frail elders and persons of all ages with disabilities are able to remain in their homes. This is not a
housing rehabilitation or septic repair program.
The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, (PVPC), is the “provider agency” for most communities in Hampden,
Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire Counties. For properties in Agawam, Chicopee, Holyoke, Northampton, Springfield,
West Springfield, and Westfield, contact Marta Santiago at HAP, 413 233-1615.
Return this form to receive a program brochure or go to the program’s website: www.mass.gov/mrc/hmlp

SourceAds in Newspapers in Western MA