Help For Independent Living For Seniors

Screenshot: Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Home Adaptations for Seniors' Independence
Credit: Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation

If you are 65 years or older, and you have some health issues that might prevent you from living in your home independently there may be some help for you out there.

A program called HASI (Home Adaptations for Seniors Independence Program) can help senior homeowners or landlords with senior tenants, put in the necessary alterations to a dwelling if they meet the mandatory eligibility requirements. This will help make independent living for some lower-income seniors with age-related disabilities a greater possibility.

What kind of help is available? Assistance in the form of a forgivable loan of up to $3,500 may be available to a homeowner or landlord if they meet the eligibility conditions. The loan will be forgiven as long as the homeowner agrees to reside on the premises for a period of six months after the modifications have been completed.

The alterations should be permanently fixed to the home and should meet the needs of a senior with an age-related health issue. Some of the alterations that would qualify for this financial assistance are handrails, lever handles on doors, walk-in showers with grab bars and/or bathtub grab bars and seats. If your home requires more extensive modification, such as wider doorways and increased space for wheelchair accessibility consulting the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program for Persons with Disabilities might give you more options.

If you are 65 and over, and you find that normal daily living activities are difficult, but still want to remain independent in your own home, you might be an eligible candidate.

In some areas of Canada, funding for these programs is provided jointly by the Government of Canada and may vary slightly. For more information contact your Band Council or the local CMHC Office or go to
http://www.toronto.ca/health/hsi/pdf/ths_2001family.pdf

We at Wo-built can help you with assessing your needs and doing the necessary renovations to make your golden years more comfortable in your own home.

_________________________________
Lonya is the staff writer for Wo-Built Inc.

links:
Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Financial Assistance Available from CMHC for Housing Repair
Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Home Adaptations for Seniors Independence Program (HASI)
Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program for Persons with Disabilities (RRAP — Disabilities)
Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Frequently Asked Questions — Home Adaptations for Seniors’ Independence (HASI)
Government of Canada: Services for Seniors and Their Families

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Don’t move into a retirement home; retire your house and stay at home!

The LEGO House
Image Source: bc.vt.edu: Virginia Tech:
Building Construction: Passive Solar Design of Lego Houses

“Retirement has been a discovery of beauty for me. I never had the time before to notice the beauty of my grandkids, my wife, the tree outside my very own front door. And, the beauty of time itself.”
Hartman Jule

It’s a beautiful thing: to be able to wake up one day in the neighbourhood you’ve loved and lived in for years and realize: “I don’t have to go to work today…ever again.”

You can take a stroll down the street to the nearby park where you took your children to play. Now you’ll be able to take your grandchildren there as well. You can stroll part the shops near your home in East Toronto, West Toronto, the Beaches, Oakville, or wherever. You’ve shopped there all your life; but you’ve never had the time to really browse until now.

The new backyard garden can be tended while chatting with your neighbours. In the winter you can invite them into your new sunroom for tea. Your friends can reach you and vice-versa as easily as they ever could…no long drives to the suburbs; no gated communities; no “common areas;” no nonsense. Just you, the place you love, and a beautiful new house that you can call home for years and years to come—worry free, designed with every conceivable contingency in mind for your future.

Yes, you have kept the beauty of the family home by retiring the old family house. With a sensible re-design and rebuild of the property (think Lego), you have preserved all the memories and beauty of your existing home, with a brand new living space designed for a comfortable and safe retirement.

Just think of the joy and satisfaction you’ll feel helping your grandkids build a tree house in the tree you planted outside your front door years ago. Now that’s what beautiful retirement living is about.

Attila Lendvai
VP of Strategic Development
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

You can read other related articles here:
wobuilt.com/blog: Comment about Aging: Adapting Your Home for Comfortable Living

seniors.gc.ca: Government of Canada: Seniors Canada: Working for Seniors

servicecanada.gc.ca: Service Canada: Services for Seniors

carp.ca: CARP Canada: A New Vision of Aging in Canada

southeastsun.com: Senior living : How the right home updates help seniors age well at home
"With a few home improvements and modifications, seniors can stay safe at home and live independently for many years."
by ARA Advertorial

Comment about Aging: Adapting Your Home for Comfortable Living

Photo Collage: Adapting Your Home for Comfortable Living
2010 @ wobuilt.com

The other day somehow the conversation got to the topic of aging, especially about aging eyes and light. When I was in my 20s I heard of people in their 40s and 50s that they needed more light to read and of course being young I thought “what are they talking about? I can read a newspaper underneath a street lamp.” Now being in my 40s I can’t even recognize a newspaper underneath a street light.

This of course makes me increasingly more sensitive towards the needs of adapting the design for homes to their age suitability. On the market there are many products that help the aging body to cope – from non slip surfaces to automation to lifts and ramps.

But I believe we need to go further to allow a comfortable living of the elderly in their own homes. We have to push technology further towards automation and new materials, provide ease of access, maybe new space planning and of course affordability.

Martina Ernst
CEO
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

links:
Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Home Adaptations for Seniors' Independence (HASI)
The Home Adaptations for Seniors’ Independence (HASI) program offers financial assistance for minor home adaptations that will help low-income seniors to perform daily activities in their home independently and safely.
Science Daily:Adapt Your Home Today For Tomorrow's Age-Related Disabilities, Cornell Housing Expert Advises
... Evaluating how suitable our homes are for growing old in should be just as routine as financial planning for retirement, says a Cornell University housing expert ...
ezinearticles.com: HOME: Home-and-Family: Home Lighting Design For Aging Eyes - Part 2 - The Math
By Ralph Pressel
twitter's realtime results for "aging + home"
Wo-Built Inc: The Development of an Addition Project: Part 1
... In a space like this there are two main challenges: integrating a large visual element such as a kitchen and lighting the space that accentuates positively in a comfortable way ...
Wo-Built Inc: Lighting with LEDs – The Benefits
Light emitting diodes (LED) seem to be the way of the future and the benefits are endless!
Wo-Built Inc: Kitchen Lighting Trends
Wo-Built Inc: Home Maintenance Service Geared to Senior Citizens
We’ve launched an innovative idea with our "Home Maintenance Service". For a yearly fee, this particular service features regular home maintenance (like a "tune-up" for your house) for seniors who find it too difficult to do the work themselves, or clients who just don’t have the time or talent in home maintenance.
Wo-Built Inc: Help For Independent Living For Seniors
We at Wo-built can help you with assessing your needs and doing the necessary renovations to make your golden years more comfortable in your own home.

Home Maintenance Service Geared to Senior Citizens

Wo-Built's Letter: Home Maintenance Service for Senior Citizens (reposted soon)

Wo-Built: The Vision Builder
"renovations with a woman's touch"

Dec. 16th, 2008


To Whom It May Concern:

Re: Home Maintenance Service

We would like to call your attention to a new service we are initiating in your area. It is a home maintenance service package geared to senior citizens who would like to stay in their own homes but need some assistance with the maintenance and repairs of their homes. We at Wo-built Inc. understand that many seniors would still like to live independently in their own homes but age-related disabilities or other circumstances make it a hardship for them to keep up with repairs and maintenance on their own. This is where our home maintenance service comes in.

We have created a unique service that consists of a one-stop maintenance service for the home. It will minimize the stress and hassle of having to deal with, and to schedule several different companies and trades people for repair and service. We will send our trustworthy, insured, highly qualified and professional handy-people on a regularly scheduled visit to cover a wide range of repairs and maintenance work. We can also help with senior independent-living requirement installations (i.e. handrails, lever handles on doors, walk-in showers with grab bars and/or bathtub grab bars).

We at Wo-Built Inc. can help with assessing the needs of the senior clients; doing the necessary repairs and helping them maintain their homes to make their golden years more comfortable in their own homes.

You may know of seniors in your community who may benefit tremendously from this service. We would appreciate your help in passing on information of this vital service to those who would benefit the most from it.
Regards,


Martina Ernst
CEO
Wo-Built Inc.


2917-B Lake Shore Blvd W.
Etobicoke, Ontario
M8V 1J3
416-402-2679
http://wobuilt.com/
http://wobuilt.blogspot.com/

links:
Wo-Built: Home Maintenance Costs: A Breakdown of the Facts
Wo-Built: New Maintenance Service: home care maintenance programs for every budget!
Wo-Built: Home Maintenance and Repair Projects
Wo-Built: Help For Independent Living For Seniors

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Affordable Housing Opportunities in Toronto: the City’s Plan

Screenshot: Housing Opportunities Toronto:
An Affordable Housing Action Plan (PDF)
Housing Opportunities Toronto HOT Action Plan 2010 - 2010 -
a comprehensive 10-year strategy for meeting
the affordable housing needs of Toronto's residents
Credit: toronto.ca

Anyone who is interested in affordable housing in Toronto should read the City’s proposal for action for this new decade (2010 – 2020).

We are looking at this document very carefully to see if we can be part of the building of new and the renewal of the existing housing stock. These are large scale projects that would allow us to train women in the building trades and at the same time help the community.

Martina Ernst
CEO
Wo-Built Inc.

About HOT Action Plan
A new Toronto Housing Charter is a key component of the Housing Opportunities Toronto HOT Action Plan 2010-2020, adopted by City Council August 5, 2009.
The Toronto Housing Charter - Opportunity for All is the first of its kind in Canada. The Charter is designed to guide Council and staff in their efforts to assist those who often face challenges finding affordable housing, from newcomers and single parents to seniors and those with disabilities.
HOT contains 67 recommended actions to be undertaken by the City of Toronto and the federal and provincial governments. It calls for new investment of $484 million annually for the next 10 years to help 257,700 households struggling with high housing costs or inadequate accommodation.
HOT will serve as a roadmap to guide federal and provincial investments, as well as public and private sector activity.
Credit: toronto.ca: Housing Charter Highlights HOT

New Year's Message from the CEO

Screenshot: Wo-Built's Home Page: Happy New Year 2009!

When Elida and I founded Wo-Built Inc. two years ago, we could not envision the incredible path we would travel up till now. So, as we say good bye to the year 2008 and welcome 2009, we would like to take some time to reflect on our past year’s successes.

2008 was a banner year for us - a year of tremendous growth, but also of defining our social missions in more detail. We celebrated our second anniversary at the finish of 2008 with an incredible sense of achievement.

Here are a few of the highlights:

1. We finalized numerous projects with resounding success.
2. With a growing number of jobs in our roster around the GTA this past year, we expanded into new offices and a new neighborhood.
3. Our staff was expanded to include a designer and webmaster.
4. We are now in the process of collaborating with George Brown College to establish a training program to provide women with more opportunities in the trades.
5. Wo-Built Inc. and its activities were featured in the Toronto Star as a cover story for the Condo Section.
6. We have partnered with Trees Ontario to assist them in their efforts of the re-greening of Ontario.
7. We have hired more women to work on our building sites in our efforts to fulfill our social mission.

2009 is going to prove to be a challenging year with the economy in turmoil. Hence for the New Year we have introduced new initiatives which will make our service offering more complete:

1. We’ve launched an innovative idea with our "Home Maintenance Service". For a yearly fee, this particular service features regular home maintenance (like a "tune-up" for your house) for seniors who find it too difficult to do the work themselves, or clients who just don’t have the time or talent in home maintenance.
2. All our projects will now include environmental design solutions to reduce the carbon footprint.
   

This past year has shown how much our clients value design, especially innovative design ideas, but always with the practicalities of building and purpose in mind. This has become one of our core philosophies. Good design is one of the cornerstones of this company and we will always endeavor to help our clients make their visions for their homes and/or office to become a reality.

We wish everyone a great and prosperous New Year.

Martina Ernst
CEO
Wo-Built Inc.

link:
Wobuilt Inc: 2008 New Year Message from the CEO

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Why You Need to Be Part of the 2015 Green Living Show

Green Living Show: A healthier you, a healthier planet

The Green Living Show is moving to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and will be held from March 27 – 29, 2015.

Image credit: http://www.greenlivingonline.com: newsletter

Discover a Healthier You and a Healthier Planet at the Green Living Show
Three Days of Delicious Food, & Great Shopping and Exciting Speakers!


What: The Green Living Show is North America’s largest consumer show dedicated to simple solutions for leading a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. This three-day event offers inspiration for all ages and features more than 400 carefully selected companies, influential speakers, innovative products, demonstrations and fun activities for the entire family. Come and enjoy delicious local and sustainable food and drink and visit hundreds of exhibitors featuring natural health and wellness products within the Health and Wellness Pavilion.

NEW THIS YEAR: The 9th annual Green Living Show will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, which means a new look and feel to the show!

Why: Consumers want to shop, taste and discover speakers, authors, products and services across all lifestyle categories that positively impact our health and the earth.

2015 Green Living Show

Where: Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building Halls A & B
Address: 255 Front Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5W 2W6
Closest Major Intersection: King Street West & University Avenue
TTC: From Union Station proceed west on Front Street to the North Building entrance.

When: Friday, March 27, 12:00pm-8:00pm
Saturday, March 28, 10:00am-8:00pm
Sunday, March 29, 10:00am-5:00pm

Admission: Adult Admission: $15.00
Seniors/Students: $10.00
Children under 12 FREE (must be accompanied by an adult)
Group Rate $8.00pp (15+persons)
School Group Rate: $8.00pp (10+persons)

Box office special: Friday evening: $10 after 4pm (save $5 on regular Adult admission)
New for 2015: Free re-admission! Buy 1 adult, student or senior ticket and return to the show for free all weekend!

Watch Highlights from the 2014 Green Living Show:

YouTube Video: Green Living Show 2014

Highlights from the 2014 Green Living Show, April 25 - 27, including Youth Day, Canadian Green Car Award, Cycle Toronto, The Urban Forest, Olivia Chow, David Miller, Ontario Culinary Explorers Pavilion, Gluten Free Garage, Yoga and Fitness, Frankie Flowers, Urban Agriculture Pavilion.

Published by GreenLivingOnline

Find more information about the Show:
web: Green Living Show: A healthier you, a healthier planet
facebook: GreenLivingPage
twitter: GreenLivingPage

Wo-Built at the Green Living Show with Peapod Life:

Photo-Collage: Wo-Built's Green Commitment at the Green Living Show
Peapod Life - an affordable sustainable home addition
April 13-15, 2012 at Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place

Read more:
wobuilt/blog: Green Additions with Indoor Gardens a Big Hit at Home and Green Living Shows
wobuilt/blog: Wo-Built to redefine Green Building with Peapod Life at Green Living Show
wobuilt/blog: Living Wall Ecosystem gives new life to Green Living Show