This non-profit’s commitment to seniors is in the name – Age Well at Home

Tommy Nollie is grateful for the work from Age Well at Home, including the installation of a working kitchen sink. Photo by David Pierini

By David Pierini, Editor

Tommy Nollie’s stories meander like the roads he has traveled in his 84 years. Once inside his tidy bungalow on Sheridan Avenue North, a visitor can expect animated tales about his Alabama youth, the lessons he learned from a strong- willed mother, the frost-bitten ears of his first Minnesota winter and a hitch-hiking odyssey to California too good to have been made up.

“I couldn’t have bought a trip like that with a million dollars,” Nollie says with a laugh.

Unifying each story is a thread of kindness shown to him, many by strangers and a single encounter. This includes a non-profit organization that made otherwise expensive home modifications for free so that he could stay where he has lived since 1966.

Experienced contractors with Age Well at Home made the light repairs after he was referred to the agency after a bad fall in November.

An older American falls and needs emergency care every 11 seconds, according to the Center for Disease Control. Falls top the list of causes that force seniors to permanently leave their home.

Age Well at Home started under Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity in 2018 and then launched its own non-profit last year. They have aided 178 homeowners since its launch last year.

“We do this work as a way to say thank you to our elders who have already dedicated their time, commitment and gifts to their community over the course of their lifetimes,” said Pam Johnson, director of family services for Age Well at Home. “(It’s an) opportunity to support their goals to live in their homes for as long as they can safely do so.”

Services include grab bars, poles, hand-held shower heads, raised toilet seats, shower chairs, lift chairs, railings, improved lighting, stair lifts, lever handles for doors and faucets, door locks, smart doorbells and accessible ramps.

There are income and other eligibility requirements, including a referral from a partner agency. In Nollie’s case, he was being treated for a shoulder injury at NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center late last year when a social worker connected him to Age Well.

For Nollie, life at home improved when Age Well’s partnering contractors replaced a deteriorating kitchen sink, installed grab bars in his bathroom, installed a new lock and handle on a door, repaired a light switch and swapped out non-functional shower doors for a rod and shower curtain.

He also received smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and a lift chair. Nollie loves the chair, but is not patient with its slow rise function. It is quicker for him to push up on his cane to get upright.

Nollie shows visitors some of the art he works on in his home. Photo by David Pierini

Nollie retired after 30 years at Honeywell, but now lives on a fixed income after his pension took a hit during an early 2000s stock market crash.

His dining room table is covered in paintings and mosaics he has created and on his couch is a blanket that is adorned with an image of his father, Napoleon, who was 104 when he passed recently.

“Hey my life has been much easier,” Nollie said of Age Well’s services. “I’m so thankful. I don’t want to be a burden on nobody. I’m being very careful not to fall.”