County Announces Home Repair Program for Seniors

Houses along S. 15th Pl. in the Polonia neighborhood. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Seniors in the city of Milwaukee will soon have access to a public fund for home repairs and improvements.

County Executive David Crowley announced Monday that the county’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is rolling out a home repair program for seniors and residents with disabilities. The program will cover home repairs and installation of specialty home modifications.

The 2024 budget included $1 million for the senior home repair program. DHHS will hold two public workshops at senior centers in February to begin training county residents on how to access the new program.

“This new program will provide support to older adults and ensure they are able to easily navigate their homes, remain safe, and age in place,” Crowley said in a statement. “With our older adult population continuing to grow, Milwaukee County is providing more tools to fulfill the desire of our seniors to age in their own homes and live peacefully in their community.”

The program, overseen by the county’s Housing Division, will make nearly $1 million available for repairs within the city of Milwaukee, according to the county executive’s office. This will include interest-free loans for repairs and and accessibility grants covering installation for home modifications like ramps and railings.

The Housing Division has long operated an emergency home repair program for seniors and low-income county residents, Administrator James Mathy told Urban Milwaukee. But it did so using federal funding through the Community Development Block Grant and HOME programs. Under the rules for these programs, because the City of Milwaukee also receives these funds, the county cannot expend its funding within the city.

“We got an awful lot of phone calls from city of Milwaukee residents that we could not help,” Mathy said. “So because this funding is county funding and not federal funding, we’re using it to assist assist city residents because our usual program cannot.”

The senior program will assist people needing general home repairs like new roofs and furnaces, but also to make homes more accessible, Mathy said, “to ensure that they can remain in their homes.”

Along with expanding the home repair program, DHHS is also planning to expand an Aging & Disabilities Services program designed to reduce falls for seniors. The county works with Revitalize Milwaukee, a non-profit focused on home repairs, on the program, which offers home safety assessments by professional occupational therapists. The assessments determine what safety improvements are needed and Revitalize Milwaukee oversees the installation.

The non-profit will also work with the county to purchase and install devices and products that make it easier to use home appliances. These can include medical assistance devices, ramps and grab bars among other things.

“I applaud our team for developing this supportive partnership between Housing Services and Aging & Disabilities Services to provide much needed support to residents to make their home environment more accessible,” said Shakita LaGrant-McClain, Executive Director, Department of Health & Human Services.

Senior Home Repair Workshops

Thursday, Feb. 15

• 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Clinton Rose Senior Center, 3045 N. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr.

Tuesday, Feb. 20

• 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• Wilson Park Senior Center, 2601 W. Howard Ave.