Retired doesn’t mean you’re out of options. In most cases, it means you qualify.
A lot of older Michigan homeowners have lived in the same house for decades. The neighborhood is familiar, the neighbors are familiar, and moving isn’t something they want to think about. But the house — the drafts, the creaking furnace, the rooms that never quite warm up — those are things they think about every winter.
What most of them don’t know is that they probably qualify for a program that could fix all of it.
How retirement income is counted
Many seniors assume they don’t qualify because they own their home or have some savings. But program eligibility is based on household income, not assets. Social Security income, pension payments, and disability benefits all count — and in most cases, a retired homeowner living alone qualifies well within the guidelines.
Income thresholds are set as a percentage of the Area Median Income and adjusted for household size. For a single-person household, the qualifying number is lower, which means more seniors qualify than they realize.
What kinds of upgrades actually matter for seniors
The issues most seniors deal with at home aren’t just about money. They’re about comfort and safety:
- Cold rooms and drafty floors that make mornings difficult
- Furnaces that run constantly but never feel adequate
- Poor air quality from aging ductwork, moisture, or inadequate ventilation • Electrical panels that weren’t built for modern heating or cooling equipment • Health risks from mold, radon, or carbon monoxide in older homes
Programs like MiHOMES and MiHER address all of these. Insulation, air sealing, HVAC replacement, heat pumps, and health and safety work can all be included depending on what the home needs.
Why the process is easier than most people expect
One concern we hear from older homeowners is that they don’t want to deal with paperwork, phone trees, or confusing government processes. That’s a fair concern.
Great Lakes Weatherization handles the application steps, the portal submissions, and the coordination between programs. The homeowner’s job is to let us in to do the assessment and make a decision about whether to move forward. We do the rest.
Where we work
• Grand Rapids and West Michigan
• Holland and the Lakeshore
• Marquette and the Upper Peninsula
• Many additional Michigan communities
• Metro Detroit
You’ve worked hard for your home. Let us help you take care of it.
■ Call Great Lakes Weatherization today
■ Find out what free upgrades may be available for your home