Safe @ Home helps seniors stay safely at home

Supporting Island Families

For Terry and Mae Affleck, the provincial government’s Seniors Safe @ Home program has been the key to living independently.

When the cumulative effects of workplace injuries caused Terry to rely on a walker and wheelchair for mobility, the Stratford couple used Safe @ Home to help install a wheelchair ramp at the home where they have lived and raised family for 34 years.

“It wouldn’t have been possible for us without help,” Terry says. “Maybe we could have had a makeshift ramp put in, but there wasn’t a safe way for me to get out from the house without that work being done.”

Seniors Safe @ Home provides home repair grants of up to $5,000 to seniors 60 or older who need to make changes to their homes so they can continue living there.  It helps seniors stay independent and reduce the demand for seniors housing, community care, and long-term care.

Mae Affleck said they accessed the program after a government worker told them there was help available for older Islanders who want to live independently in their own homes.

 “It was the staff at Access PEI who let us know that we could get some assistance,” she said. “We have to go to the hospital every couple of days for treatments, and I don’t know how I’d be able to help him get there if we didn’t have this.”

The provincial government allocated $330,000 toward this program in 2017-18, and  60 applicants have been found eligible for the program and are in various stages of completing needed modifications to their homes.

“Independent living is an important part of quality of life for older people.” said Family and Human Services Minister Tina Mundy. “We’re very proud to offer a range of programs that help Island seniors remain in their own homes.”