Grove City has always been a comfortable landing place for new and established families to raise their kids. Those kids then grow up and move out, leaving once-full homes with a few more empty rooms.
What happens next? That depends on the family.
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Resource fairs are held quarterly at the Evans Center
Do you want to use those extra rooms for when kids and grandkids visit? Does the space feel too big and you need less? Do you need some assistance but want to remain independent?
Finding the right answer as you enter this new stage of life can be challenging and overwhelming, and it doesn’t have to be something you do alone. With countless housing options and resources – including everything from realtors to therapists who specialize in care for older adults – Grove City enables residents to stay in the welcoming community they’ve always loved.
Fix it up
For those looking to stay in their home, there are several ways to improve your space and update it with some universal design features.
Grove City native Tonya Kreml has been a licensed physical therapy assistant for more than 30 years, with 20 years focused on home healthcare for older adults.
Kreml offers home safety assessments through her business Transitioning Your Senior, LLC, which she founded in 2022. Through these assessments, Kreml helps families find the areas of the home that need to be changed to accommodate the needs of their older family members.
One of the challenges with these renovations is making the right alterations without breaking the bank.
“Having the proper shower seat, grab bar, shower, toilet (and) stair rail design is all based on the individual. In your home, you make modifications based on your functional mobility,” Kreml says. “This is not a one-size-fits-all business.”
Renovations on any scale, from handyman touch-ups to full-service remodeling, are available from local businesses.
On the move
According to a 2021 AARP survey, more than 75 percent of adults 50 and older want to either stay in their homes or current community.
Nora Van Cleave and Kay Caton are certified senior real estate specialists with a real estate group in Grove City called Right Size Residential Group. The Grove City natives say the world of home buying has changed quite a bit over the years.
“You don’t even have to be in the same room to sign papers anymore, you can do it all electronically. You can search for a home online, you can buy a home online. It’s absolutely amazing,” Van Cleave says. “But from the flip side of that, there are also people that are out there looking to take advantage of that opportunity.”
With quick offer turn-around times and online money wiring, Van Cleave and Caton say there are a host of pitfalls people can run into when they enter the housing market for the first time in a few years.
Teri Ruslander is the elder services coordinator at the Grove City Division of Police, where she helps older adults and their families. When it comes to moving and contracts, Ruslander recommends reviewing documents with an Elder Law Attorney to ensure there are no surprises.
Choices, choices, choices!
For those who want to stay local and find a new home, Grove City offers various housing options and living communities, from independent living to special care facilities.
To help sift through and find the right options, senior living referral businesses, such as Gracie Bloom, can be incredibly helpful. Senior Living Advisor Katie Broadright, who worked in senior living centers for roughly 12 years before moving into consulting, says there are many misconceptions about different housing styles.
“Most older adults think it looks like grandma’s nursing home where their parents may have been and senior living has changed so much since those days,” Broadright says. “Senior living now is more like an apartment with resources and services if they need it. So a lot of the conversation for me is how to encourage your parents to get into a community and take a look.”
Grove City has a multitude of options when it comes to living spaces for older adults. Options range from independent, apartment-style living at places such as Sugar Maple Commons as well as places that offer everything from independent and assisted living to specialized care like StoryPoint and Carriage Court.
Not sure where to begin?
Every expert says that the easiest, yet most difficult thing is getting started thinking about the next steps.
Whether you are talking with a spouse, parent or child, these discussions may be difficult at first, but will also offer closure and hope.
Making sure all important decision-makers are a part of the conversation along the way is key to ensuring the right choice is made.
“The goal is for everyone to have a full life and to still be as independent as possible, and sometimes the way they maintain that independence is by having a little bit of help,” Katie Broadright says.
The Evans Center provides a wide range of informative and entertaining activities, listed in The Source on page 33.
Rachel Karas is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at rkaras@cityscenemediagroup.com.
