Hearts for Homes is Committed to Restoring Dignity to Senior Citizens

A house is more than a building. It’s a home.

A home that, after going out into the world and doing great things, welcomes you back with refreshment and refuge. It’s a place where the rooms are filled with stories and legacies, and walls lined with memories. Dining rooms that have hosted hundreds of dinner parties, living rooms that have been painted with laughter, and bedrooms that have lulled countless children to sleep. 

Every home has a story. 

But more than just a story of a house – It’s a story of a life.

Lives that have lived fearlessly, overcome obstacles and contributed to the success and vitality of our nation today. Lives that have also been altered by the ruthlessness of age, physical limitations, and in need of assistance.

Lives of senior citizens. 

And with every home repair that goes unmended, the pride of the homeowner is chipped away, and the story fades. Many senior citizen homeowners in Denton County lack the necessary funds or ability to keep up with the demands of an aging house. A house that was once the beacon of achievement slowly dwarfs into a place of constant struggle and hopelessness.

What may be simple home repairs for them, becomes a lifeline for seniors.

Without the ability to maintain a safe and functioning home while surviving on a fixed income, many seniors continue to live in less than ideal conditions. From leaking sinks to rotten floors, to black mold, they live in conditions that many of us would deem deplorable and unlivable. Yet these are the daily realities of many of our beloved seniors.

It can be easy to gravitate to what we see at face value. The evident struggle, the need for help. 

But what we fail to see, so many times is the story behind the struggle.

Hearts for Homes not only restores the house, but the story of the life lived in it.

Hearts for Homes, founded in 2006, is dedicated to restoring hope and dignity through home rehabilitation which affords low-income seniors, ages 60 and older, a safe, comfortable, and well-functioning home. Through the combined efforts of staff, volunteers, and corporate partners, Hearts for Homes not only restores the home itself but restores the story of the person in it. 

Even with the pandemic impeding on their ability to respond to repairs (with the exception of emergency situations), they have been responding to new needs that the at-risk population simply cannot do on their own. From grocery shopping to running errands, and emergency toilet paper hunts, Hearts for Homes has truly shown their dedication to serving the elderly.

And what may be simple home repairs for them, becomes a lifeline for seniors. 

Here are 3 ways Hearts for Homes adds to the quality of their life by mending the homes of their elderly neighbors.

1. Increases independence among senior citizens

Helping our seniors care for their homes is mutually gratifying for both the owner and the helper. 

For many seniors with physical limitations, the ease of moving around the home ranges from challenging to impossible. Walk-in showers, ramps, and rails along walls might be a simple home repair for Hearts for Homes, but a lifeline for those with limited mobility. 

One Hearts for Homes senior who recently had a stroke and placed in a wheelchair no longer had the ability to walk the two steps from his front door. With a fixed monthly income, and only an elderly wife to call upon, finding the funds and manpower to install a ramp was a lost cause… until Hearts for Homes stepped in. 

The risk of falling in senior citizens becomes exponentially higher when environmental factors are coupled with physical limitations and fragility. In fact, 1 out of 3 seniors falls every year. So if a senior is living with a constantly leaking roof, it only takes one heavy Texas rainstorm to cause water to gather on the kitchen floor and become an even greater hazard. 

Making our older adult’s home safer and more accessible reduces fall risk, prevents accidents, and increases both independence and security.

2. Nurtures connection among multiple generations

As people age, the network of peer-relationships thin, and nurturing meaningful connections to younger generations take precedence. Though often disregarded, our elderly long to share their hard-earned wisdom culled from decades of human experience. 

And when it comes to wisdom, they have a lot of it. The Baby Boomer generation dominated the American culture and the workplace for over 30 years, contributing to the success and vitality of our nation today, and not to mention the Silent Generation preceding them. 

Hearts for Homes provides an opportunity for generational lines to be crossed. Families, youth groups, community service groups, and churches of all ages enter into the lives of our wise forerunners by simply stepping over their threshold and filling a physical need. 

One philosopher wrote, “The wisdom and experience of older people is a resource of inestimable worth. Recognizing and treasuring the contributions of older people is essential to the long-term flourishing of any society.”

3. Replaces shame with dignity

For an elderly gentleman who has a poor septic system that has caused water damage that has gone untreated now faces a black mold problem. On average, the rough $6,000 estimate to repair just these three things, is unobtainable — especially for a low-income senior who is surviving on a fixed income. Not to mention that leaky roof he has to get fixed that adds an additional $7,000. 

As the laundry list lengthens, and the resources shorten, shame and indignation widen. 

When you own a home, you are the king of your castle. You take pride in your palace and invite others to partake in its glory. But when damages accrue, and you have no ability to mend them, shame begins to grow. 

Hearts for Homes are advocates for such seniors. Every nail they hammer and panel they replace is because they believe these elders are worthy of more than the conditions they are living in.  

With the help of Hearts for Homes, this gentleman begins to take pride, once again, in his castle. 

Less than 3 percent have no-one.

And as the Boomers keep booming, so will the need for home repairs 

At Hearts for Homes, repair requests keep coming in, and so do the applicants.

When the last census was taken in 2010, the oldest Baby Boomer had not even turned 65. Since then, about 10,000 are crossing that age threshold, and it’s projected that by 2030 all boomers will be at least 65. This means that nearly seven baby boomers are turning 65 every minute. In fact, 1 in 5 adults over the age of 65 is a “solo senior”— someone aging without a spouse or an adult child. And on average, seniors have an informal network of 2 or 3 people but more than one-third have only one.

Less than 3 percent have no-one. With a network of support so small, many senior citizens are cast into the shadows. With many spouses left widowed, adult children having moved away, and the lack of resources to repair their lifelong homes, they have no other choice but to live in the poor conditions of their aging homes.

“It’s crucial to get as much work done as we can and not fall behind. Seniors don’t need to wait around for a long time to get the help they need,” Founder, Susan Frank shares. The needs for home repairs continue to grow and will continue to grow as Baby Boomers start hitting the age of eligibility. In just the last three years alone, Hearts for Homes saw a 10% increase in the number of seniors they are serving. And that number will increase exponentially over the next few years.

As citizens raised to respect our elders, we can’t forget our roles

Dignity is a non-negotiable. One of the easiest ways to rob someone of their dignity is to deny them basic human needs – shelter being one of them. We have a civic responsibility to care for the elderly, appreciating their contributions, honoring their stories, and upholding their worth. 

Being committed to giving back to seniors, who in so many ways, gave their lives for us, is a simple way of saying “thank you”. 

What Hearts for Homes teaches us, is that, as a community, we must look past the face-value. Look past the gray hair, frailty, and need for assistance and look for their story. We must appeal with respect to elderly people as we would to the members of our own family. These are people who have raised children, had reputable professions, and succeeded in adding to the vitality of our community.

And maybe, in the same way, that we encourage our children to envision who they will become as adults: surgeons, teachers, lawyers, athletes – maybe we should encourage ourselves to envision the lives once lived by our senior citizen neighbors. 

Remember, there’s a story behind the struggle. 

Being committed to giving back to seniors, who in so many ways, gave their lives for us, is a simple way of saying “thank you”. 

You, too, can restore hope and dignity

At this time in history, the importance of Hearts for Homes’ mission could not be greater, or more needed. 

Give into the true meaning of respecting your elders by restoring their dignity, and partner with Hearts for Homes. 

You don’t have to be a handyman to volunteer (although those are always welcome). Actually, the majority of volunteer opportunities don’t even require a hammer. There are loads of volunteer positions that suit your skillset and will get you in the door to receive pearls of wisdom from our beloved Denton County seniors.

And if you’d truly like to stay in the loop of all Hearts for Homes is doing in our community, follow them on Facebook or contact them directly for specific interests.

 If you are a senior homeowner who needs assistance and meets or knows someone who could use a helping hand, complete the Homeowner Application online.

Tagged: seniors, senior citizens, elderly, house renovations, house repairs, hearts for homes

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