Nearly $1.3 Million Awarded to Help 67 Montgomery County Seniors Age in Place
For seniors throughout the Dayton area, finding the financial resources to stay in their homes as they age can be challenging. An inoperable furnace, a leaky roof or a need for a ramp can often end in a senior looking for a new home or living in substandard conditions. With a fixed income, finding or saving the funds to make the repairs and modifications that will make their homes livable is difficult.
Rebuilding Together Dayton and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati’s Carol M. Peterson Housing Fund (CMPHF) are working together to address this issue.
The fund provides grants from $5,000 to $20,000 per homeowner to fund accessibility and emergency repairs for low-income special needs and senior homeowners. FHLB Cincinnati members, which includes over 600 financial institutions across Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee, may partner with non-profit organizations to assist homeowners by making their homes more accessible and safe.
KeyBank, a FHLB Cincinnati member, partnered with Rebuilding Together Dayton to secure funds for 2024. In total, a little under $1.3 million was awarded to the group to assist 67 senior households in Montgomery County, Ohio. The demand is great, with repairs ranging from roof replacements and stair lift installations to new windows and wheelchair ramps.
“The average age of the person we served last year was 77. The average age of their house was around 85,” said Amy Radachi, President and CEO of Rebuilding Together Dayton. “The houses are aging faster than our homeowners are, but there’s deferred maintenance, and there’s all the modifications that you need to put in place so they can stay there.”
For Dayton-area senior Janet George, who has lived in her home for 44 years, the CMPHF allocated funds for a variety of projects. Ms. George received new windows, recessed lights in rooms that previously had to be lit by lamplight, a stair lift, and a new central heating and air system.
“I just feel better because all these wonderful things have happened,” said Ms. George when asked about her experience. “These are all things that I’ve wanted done for years and could not do, and didn’t look like I was ever going to be able to do.”
The CMPHF is a grant program from FHLB Cincinnati, in addition to their Affordable Housing Program that has disbursed over $640 million in subsidies towards the creation or preservation of more than 91,000 units of affordable housing. In 2023, the FHLB disbursed more than $6.4 million through the CMPHF to help 529 households. The program reached $14.6 million in funds available for 2024, a new record.
“The Carol M. Peterson Housing Fund works to address the unique challenges of our geographic footprint that often sees declining housing stock among elderly homeowners. By addressing those needs and keeping seniors in their homes, we are able to make an impact in affordable senior housing in both the smallest and largest communities in our District,” said Damon Allen, SVP, Chief Marketing and Community Investment Officer.
“The FHLB is a vital partner in assisting KeyBank to continue and strengthen our mission of creating sustainable and safe affordable housing throughout the Fifth District and across the United States. Whenever possible, we take advantage of as many programs as we can,” said Laura Sandmann, Vice President, National FHLB Housing Coordinator at KeyCorp.
Rebuilding Together Dayton is no stranger to using FHLB Cincinnati programs, having used its Disaster Reconstruction Program to help rebuild after the devastating tornadoes in 2019. They first used the CMPHF in 2017, lauding it for its ease of use.
“We’re the only home repair agency in Mongomery County that specifically targets senior homeowners. This funding is a major contributor to being able to help our clients,” said Amanda Harrelson, NeighborCare Director at Rebuilding Together Dayton. “We’re able to do major system replacements as well as address the accessibility needs they have, allowing seniors to stay in their homes and age in place much longer, and, much safer.”
The CMPHF is closed to new applicants for 2024, with all funds awarded to Rebuilding Together Dayton allocated to 67 households in the county.
