Aging in place — staying in your own home as long as possible as you age — can come with challenges.
Fortunately, older adults and caregivers can get help thanks to the Household & Outside Maintenance for Elderly program, also known as HOME.
HOME is a Senior Community Services program available to Hennepin County residents age 60 and older who want to continue to live independently in their own homes.
HOME relies on a network of local workers and volunteers who provide indoor and outdoor chore services at reduced rates, including:
- Housekeeping services such as vacuuming, dusting, sweeping/mopping floors, cleaning kitchens and bathrooms and doing laundry.
- Handyman services such as changing light bulbs, installing grab bars, fixing leaky faucets, repairing running toilets, installing new faucet and light fixtures, checking carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, changing furnace filters and hanging wall decorations and mirrors.
These services can help seniors remain in their own homes, and also can provide a respite for caregivers who may become exhausted from providing constant care and home maintenance for an older adult.
Seniors and their loved ones can use Senior Community Services’ online HOME Shop to buy or gift housekeeping packages — such as $56 for two hours for cleaning (or $100 for four hours) — or handyman services for $68 for two hours of labor.
Workers are screened to ensure seniors feel safe and confident about the services they receive.
“Help with household chores and maintenance, as provided through the HOME program, often is the difference between a senior being able to remain in their own home and having to move to a more structured, and often more costly, senior care setting,” said Deb Taylor, CEO of Senior Community Services. “It’s one way we help reimagine aging for Minnesotans.”
Only people age 60 and older who live in the Hennepin County are eligible. The service area includes the following cities: Bloomington, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Deephaven, Eden Prairie, Edina, Excelsior, Golden Valley, Greenwood, Hopkins, Long Lake, Maple Grove, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Minnetonka Beach, Mound, New Hope, Orono, Osseo, Plymouth, Richfield, Robbinsdale, Shorewood, Spring Park, St. Louis Park, Tonka Bay, Wayzata and Woodland.
Senior Community Services is a nonprofit organization based in Minnetonka that also offers:
- isolation-easing activities at senior centers in Hennepin and Wright counties,
- senior outreach and caregiver services, which provide help managing complex care,
- CareNextion.org, a free website used to communicate and coordinate care,
- Senior Partners Care(SPC), which bridges the financial gap between seniors’ medical bills and Medicare coverage,
- and, Medicare health insurance counseling.
Allison Bendickson is a communications assistant with Minnetonka-based nonprofit Senior Community Services. To learn more about Senior Community Services — and order housekeeping or home maintenance services — visit seniorcommunity.org or call 952-746-4046.
Volunteer opportunities
Senior Community Services is looking for volunteers to help with its Household & Outside Maintenance for Elderly (HOME) program, serving 29 communities in Hennepin County.
Tasks include work outside (raking, weeding/gardening, shoveling, mowing, painting, cleaning) and inside (painting, cleaning, socializing).
Work can be one-time or ongoing and can be done alone, with a partner or in a group (kids must be age 7 and older).
Handyperson skills such as basic plumbing, electrical and carpentry are welcome.
Please contact Jeanne Rasmussen at [email protected] or call 952-541-1019 for more information.