By Susan E. Campbell
Aging seniors have a dozen choices as to
where to live out their remaining years. For
many, their hearts are in their homes. But
their homes may no longer be safe and accommodating
to their specific needs.
Safety does not have to be an issue with
people like Patti Grey Whann in the building.
Whann’s new consulting company, Redesign
4 Seniors in Glens Falls, helps aging people
who want to stay in their residences as long
as possible remove barriers to a secure and
comfortable environment.
“Not everybody wants to move to Florida,”
said Whann, who lived there herself for a
time and “wouldn’t move back.”
Known for its elderly population, Florida
barely beats the North Country’s over-fifty
demographic.
“Forty-nine percent of Warren County’s
population is over 50 and Washington County’s
is 50 percent,” said Whann. “Combined,
these counties make up the fastest growing
area for seniors in the country, second only
to Dade County, Fla.”
The proportion of seniors in Warren, Washington
and Hamilton counties in the next two
years should reach 62 percent, according to
a census analysis by the Long-Term Health
Care Council, of which Whann is an active
member.
Whann had spent her life as an advocate
for victims of domestic violence and child
abuse, but put that life behind her when she
needed a change emotionally, she said. Next
career, real estate.
“I was involved with a national builders association
that offered a training program to
become a Certified Aging-In-Place Specialist
(CAPS),” she said.
Whann saw a growing market for CAPS
and a business opportunity to harness her
skills in real estate and social work, while
providing an invaluable service to those
for whom southern states and senior communities
are a less desirable option. CAPS
explore ways to make a person or couple’s
home more accommodating as their needs
change with age.
“The CAPS education program helped
me see ways to redesign homes to make the
home work for the client,” she said.
By 2012, her idea had evolved into Redesign
4 Seniors, which she runs out of her
Glens Falls home along with her boutique
real estate company.
As a consultant, Whann goes into the
home and searches for ways to make it a
one-floor, safe and practical living space.
Her recommendations can be as simple as
removing throw rugs, to relocating the laundry
room, to replacing a tub with a walk-in
shower, to building an addition.
“Older homes are not built smart, not built
for expansion,” she said. “But there are many
things that I can suggest when an adult child
calls me because the parents refuse to sell
their home.”
Should they give in and list the house
“to see what they could get,” they would be
selling into a market softened by too much
inventory, she said.
“There are 300 listings in Queensbury
alone right now,” said Whann.
Home is where they raised their kids while
they worked in and retired from industries
that since left the area. The next generation
went off to college and seldom returned for
a career.
“Now they are alone in the house and the
bedrooms are upstairs and the laundry is
in the basement,” said Whann. “No one was
thinking about wheelchairs and walkers
when these homes were designed.”
Falling is the number one cause of death for seniors, according to Whann.
“A throw rug is a skateboard,” she said.
“The biggest problem is going to the basement
to do laundry.”
She locates a closet or space on the first
floor for a combination washer/dryer that is
front-loaded and at a height comfortable for
seniors. She then recommends one or two appliance
brands and two or three contractors
to do the remodeling.
Clients may have a handyman or builder
they work with or they can choose from
Whann’s referrals.
“I will work with anybody,” she said. “Not
all builders know how to put in a curbless
shower with a seat, but I will supervise.”
Even when installing a simple grab bar or
shower head, place it where it’s best for the
seniors, not where the regulators say it has to
be, said Whann. People are different heights.
Customizing the home may also mean
changing the height of kitchen cabinets, the
dishwasher and toilet. Adding chair rails at
the proper height is a “beautiful and functional”
way to accomplish the same thing a
grab bar does, but throughout the house,
she said.
“There are so many ways to make adjustments
that even a disabled person can stay
in their home,” said Whann. “I present the options and clients choose what they want
to do based on their age, income and ability.”
For this she is paid by the hour like many
consultants. She adds a project management
fee to supervise an addition or major
build-out.
As an advocate for seniors, Whann uses
her social worker skills through her twoyear-
old business.
“I am passionate about this. I believe in
this,” she said. “So I am keeping my fees low
to stay in business long enough for people to
see that this is a valued service.”
A valued service that may be “a little
ahead of its time,” she added.
That is because Whann believes there is
a “perfect storm” brewing that will add even
greater value to her business and others
providing related services, such as home health
care and shopping services.
The converging factors are the too-large
inventory of houses; GE closing its Fort Hudson
Plant; Tribune Media’s two recent layoffs;
and Glens Falls Hospital’s three layoffs.
“No one ever thought of the North Country
as a senior market, but we have to,” said
Whann.
What Whann can do for seniors impacts
other businesses, too, such as the appliance
retailers, flooring specialists, plumbers,
electricians and carpenters she refers her
clients to for products, materials and expertise.
Redesign 4 Seniors currently consults
to residents of Warren, Washington and
Saratoga counties. Search online at www.redesign4seniors.com on find Whann on
Facebook for more information.
Photo Courtesy Redesign 4 Seniors