Upgrades to Jbg. seniors' homes pending

NORTH CREEK | The town of Johnsburg's newly formed Seniors Committee has obtained a $2,500 grant from AARP to fix up the homes of 10 older adults residing in town. The project is to make the residences of qualifying low-income seniors safer and more convenient. The individuals to be selected for the project live alone, have mobility limitations, use assistive devices, and live in homes that need repairs or upgrades. The money is to be used on projects that focus on upgrades to their bathrooms and home entrances to accommodate their particular challenges, following the guidelines of the American Association of Retired Persons' HomeFit program. An email sent by AARP officials to Arthur Webb, one of the founding members of the Johnsburg Seniors Committee, congratulates Webb and the eight other members of the group for representing one of the 343 communities out of 3,450 applying for a 2025 AARP Commuinty Challenge Grant, of which only 30 communities were successful in obtaining HomeFit grants. Contacted July 4, Webb said the effort funded by the grant was considered a pilot project that would likely be expanded in upcoming years to help far more older adults by making vital upgrades to their homes. The existing project plans call for obtaining donated fixtures, lumber, and other materials from home-improvement suppliers, and to recruit volunteers to accomplish the construction and/or repair work. Although a tentative list of qualifying seniors exists, applications for home upgrades will be available from the town within a week, and the applications should be returned to the town by Aug. 31, Webb said. The Johnsburg Seniors Committee will then select the 10 successful applicants, and the work is to begin in early September and conclude by mid-November. Webb said that this local HomeFit project is an element of a more comprehensive plan developed by the town to address the identified needs of the town's seniors, based on the issues raised at the April 23 meeting of the Seniors Committee. The high-priority recommendations endorsed by the group include increasing communal meals at the town's Senior Center, adding to the activities offered at the town's Senior Center, establishing a newsletter to inform local seniors and their family members about activities and events, and developing transportation initiatives for the town's aging population. Other issues raised at the April meeting include expanding broadband access in town, combating the isolation some local seniors are facing, and establishing a program in which local high schoolers connect with the elderly. At this "Seniors Day" meeting, it was noted that one-quarter of Johnsburg's residents were 65 or older, and this segment of the local population was expanding, not only in Johnsburg, but across Warren County. At the Johnsburg Town Board's July 1 meeting, Webb explained the HomeFit project to the board, and they voted to accept the funds.

Signup for our newsletter

Upgrades to Jbg. seniors' homes pending

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS