A service agency has received a grant to help them make minor home repairs for the area’s senior residents.
The First Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability (FTAAAD) received a Serving Tennessee’s Seniors grant in the amount of $191,500. The grant will be used to provide minor home repairs and modifications to 60 low-income senior households in FTAAAD’s service area, which includes Carter, Greene, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington counties.
“We are doing very minor home repairs or improvements,” said Kathy Whitaker, Director of FTAAAD.
Among the types of repairs and modifications the agency will be working on are adding gripper bars in bathrooms, repairing broken steps, or installing wheelchair ramps.
To qualify for assistance, a person must be 60 years of age or older and must own their home, Whitaker said.
“We have probably three-quarters of the people selected because they were on our waiting list, but we do have a few openings,” Whitaker said. “That is why we wrote the applications for this because we had so many people on our waiting list. There is a huge need for this.”
To apply for assistance with minor home modifications or repairs, residents should contact the First Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability at 423-928-0224.
Funding for Serving Tennessee’s Seniors is provided by the Chancery Court and administered by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee through the settlement of a lawsuit initiated by former Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper against both SeniorTrust and ElderTrust.
“All across Tennessee, each and every day, nonprofits and governmental agencies are working hard to make the path easier for our growing but vulnerable senior population,” said Ellen Lehman, President of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. “From Lake County to Bradley County, from Memphis to Elizabethton, we know that the needs of our aging population are often unrecognized or underfunded.”
“The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has been honored to assist the Chancery Court and the Office of Tennessee’s Attorney General in the distribution of these grants to help strengthen the ability of these recipient organizations as they work to improve the lives of those they serve,” Lehman continued. “The grants we were able to make last for only six months but span a broad range of needs, including: providing nutritious meals to the homebound, providing safe access to senior centers, providing dentures, providing transportation, providing wellness and educational activities, and fixing homes so that residents can age in their own place.”
About First Tennessee Development District Area Agency on Aging and Disability
FTAAAD’s mission is to improve the quality of life for older adults and adults with disabilities who live in the eight counties of Northeast Tennessee by advocating, setting policy, identifying local needs, providing services, coordinating resources, and providing information to promote a continuum of care which supports independence, choice, and empowerment for those we are committed to serve. For more information, call 423-928-0224 or visit www.ftaaad.org.