SMYRNA, Ga. — Many seniors are on a fixed income and home repairs are not in the budget.
That’s where the nonprofit Rebuilding Together comes in.
Channel 2’s Lori Wilson was with the organization in Smyrna as they helped two seniors stay in their homes.
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The work being done on two homes in the historic Rose Garden Hills neighborhood in Smyrna may look like home upgrades and repairs, but it’s also about independence and freedom.
“It makes it much easier for me to get in and out,” Marion Bernice Livsey said.
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She and her husband bought their two-bedroom home for just $8,500 back in 1955. Now, 70 years later, she’s able to stay in her home thanks to the work being done by Rebuilding Together, the City of Smyrna and their partner Renewal By Anderson.
“She needed a little bit of a ramp just to get in and out of her home, to help with her mobility,” Toni Lee-Grissom, Signature Service Manager at Renewal by Anderson, told Channel 2 Action News. “We love working with homeowners in the community.”
Smyrna City Councilmember Tim Gould said the city sets aside money for projects like this because it makes the city stronger.
“It’s really an important part of the thread, the fabric of the Smyrna community, helping people stay in the home they grew up in, often,” Gould said.
In the Rose Garden Hills neighborhood, the repairs are more than just for looks.
“The repairs that we do are crucial, they are not cosmetic,” April Cline, Executive Director at Rebuilding Together ATL, said. “We replace roofs, replace plumbing systems, repair electrical systems.”
For Livsey, the work is also keeping her connected to those she loves.
Livsey lost her husband 40 years ago, but says she’s stayed healthy all these years because of what he planted.
“My husband did a lot of work on this house,” she said. “A lot of good vegetables, my husband had a garden.”
The two raised vegetables, and three daughters, at their home in Smyrna over what Livsey said was a lifetime of love.
“I have a lot of memories and things to be thankful for,” she told Channel 2 Action News.
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