Habitat for Humanity of Wicomico County was recently awarded a 2023 Thome Aging Well grant to support the expansion of homeownership of decent, affordable homes.
The Thome Aging Well program is a four-year, $19 million initiative from Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) to help older adults living in affordable communities age safely and securely at home.
“Thanks to the Thome Aging Well Grant, we are now able to say ‘yes’ when others say ‘no’,” Molly Hilligross, HFHWC executive director said.
Funded by the Edward N. and Della L. Thome Memorial Foundation, Bank of America trustee, the program awarded $6 million in grants this year to scale aging-in-place initiatives with a track record of success by 22 nonprofits in Maryland and Michigan.
In total, the 2023 Thome Aging Well grants will provide essential support to over 6,000 older adults to help enhance well-being, reduce isolation and allow them to age with dignity in their homes. Best practices learned from the grantees will be shared across the field of affordable and public housing providers serving older adults.
“There is a deep need for continued support of organizations that serve the growing population of older adults who want to age in their homes and communities,” said Stephany De Scisciolo, VP, of Impact, Evaluation, and Population Health at Enterprise. “For this round of grants, we built on our previous success and extended the grant opportunity to any organization providing home-based services, including those who help older adults modify their homes to make it easier for them to continue to age in place.”
About Habitat for Humanity of Wicomico County
Habitat for Humanity works to make homeownership of decent, affordable homes a matter of conscience and action. Habitat for Humanity of Wicomico County was founded in 1987; since then the affiliate has built and sold 74 homes locally. Through volunteer labor and tax-deductible donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, decent homes with the help of the homeowner (partner) families. Habitat homes are sold to partner families at no profit, financed with affordable, low-interest loans. The homeowners’ monthly mortgage payments come back to the affiliate to help build more homes for more families.
