Giving Tuesday Impact Series: Bernadette has a warm place to live
“It was so hard on me. I’d lived in that house since I was 9-going-on-10.”
Bernadette recently moved from her family home where she’d lived since 1962. She said she couldn’t have done it without help.
“Judy was very helpful for me, very helpful. She was so kind. It was really hard on me,” she said.
Bernadette says her apartment in a senior building is nice. It’s more comfortable, and what’s even more important, it’s affordable.
Bernadette was having a lot of trouble keeping up with all the costs of homeownership. Taxes, repairs, and heating bills added up, and her social security income wasn’t able to pay for it all. Some days she was barely able to buy food.
She wanted to stay in her home for as long as possible. H.O.M.E.’s Upkeep & Repair program made some emergency repairs for her so that she could do so.
But all of the costs were just too much. By the time she decided to move, her heat was shut off. She needed to move to a more affordable place before winter. Her house was sold, and she was able to find a decent apartment that fit her budget.
Our Moving Program was just what she needed.
Through our program, she was connected to Judy, our Moving Coordinator. Judy provided her with boxes to pack. She then helped her to schedule her move with Big O Movers, a professional company we partner with to conduct the move.
Our Moving Program helps make moving affordable, too. Using an income-based sliding scale, seniors only pay for a portion of the moving costs with the remainder made possible by donations from people like you.
On moving day, Judy was there to help Bernadette through her very emotional and stressful move. Bernadette thanked her and said, “You’re like another daughter to me!”
Bernadette is taking things step by step to get adjusted to her new place. Her heart still aches for her family home and the hard decisions she’s had to make, but she’s grateful for a warm place to live.
And she’s so thankful for the Moving Program that helped make the process a little easier.
How you can help
We rely on donations from individuals like you to help seniors maintain their independence by having the housing and housing support services they need.
This year H.O.M.E. has joined #ILGive to celebrate Giving Tuesday.
Will you mark your calendar for November 28, 2017 to help us reach our goal of raising $20,000 to make a big impact for seniors in 2018?
As a bonus, Bruce Otto, our Executive Director, has agreed to shave his the beard he has worn for most of his life. Watch the video here.
You can follow us on Facebook for updates, or sign up to be an #ILGive champion by fundraising for H.O.M.E.!
Or, donate today.
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To find out more about H.O.M.E. and to provide support to low-income seniors, please visit our website or like us on Facebook!
This post is part of our series to celebrate Giving Tuesday, which will take place this year on November 28, 2017. The idea behind #GivingTuesday is to kickoff the holiday-giving season, in the same way that Black Friday and Cyber Monday kickoff the holiday-shopping season.
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