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Affordable Housing for Elderly
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More than 120,000 families sought shelter in government-issued trailers following Hurricane Katrina. Long before that storm hit the Gulf Coast, folks in South Carolina began to rescue senior citizens weathering the devastation of poverty...by building brand new homes for the elderly. Heidi Robinson reports. |
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SCRIPT:
(Locator: Charleston County, South Carolina)Robert Simmons built this house some 50 years ago…
Robert Simmons, Elderly Homeowner: “I did it myself, mostly from scratch.”
…but humidity, hurricanes and insects robbed his South Carolina home of many basic functions…even the roof over his head. Robert can’t keep water out.
Robert Simmons, Elderly Homeowner: “That’s the blue tarp I got to keep it from leaking.”
Inside, he can’t drink the brown water trickling through the pipes.
Robert Simmons, Elderly Homeowner: “I bring water from my brother’s house for drinking and stuff like that.”
Emphysema forced Robert into early retirement. Triple-digit summer heat makes breathing difficult and home repairs impossible. The weary window unit can’t force cool air in faster than it seeps out.
Help for Robert sounds a whole lot like new construction.
Welcome to Robert’s future home, under construction 15 miles away at Hibbens United Methodist Church.
Volunteer: “We’ve probably put about 20,000 nails into this project.”
A group of South Carolina home inspectors partnered with the United Methodist Relief Center, volunteering more than 700 hours, and donating 10,000 dollars toward the 35,000 dollar price tag for the cottage.
Volunteer: “You sleep good at night thinking about things like this.”
Constructed on a mobile home platform, the cottage will be hitched up and moved to Robert’s property when finished.
Volunteer: “Labor of love…a lot of hours have gone into this.”
Robert can live in this one bedroom cottage for free for the rest of his life. When he no longer needs it, the cottage will be given to another senior citizen.
Pat Goss, Exec. Director, United Methodist Relief Center: “These folks are the folks who raised the children, who brought home the meals, who took care of somebody their whole life and they deserve a chance to live with a sense of dignity.”
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There are currently 45 people on a waiting list to receive Elderly Transportable Cottages. If you would like more information on these cottages, or are interested in participating in one of the building projects, log on to the United Methodist Relief Center Web site at www.umrc.org or call 843-884-4860.