home repair
CAPABLE Program
Helping seniors stay in the homes they love
Many seniors want to live in their homes for as long as possible, but keeping up with home improvements and maintaining a safe living environment can be challenging.
CAPABLE provides modest investments and short-term interventions to help older adults remain in their homes longer, improve health outcomes, and decrease medical costs.
About CAPABLE
Habitat Metro Denver and the Colorado Visiting Nurse Association (CVNA) are the partners behind CAPABLE, an aging-in-place program that stands for Community Aging in Place – Advancing Better Living for Elders.
By working together, Habitat and CVNA provide a powerful combination of medical consultation and home repairs to improve comfort and mobility for low-income homeowners.
CAPABLE’s home-based approach includes:
- Ten, 60- to 90-minute home visits with an occupational therapist and a registered nurse
- Home modifications by the Habitat Metro Denver construction team
All home improvements are customized to the homeowner, including the installation of safety bars, improved lighting, floor repairs, and any other custom repairs needed.
Is CAPABLE right for you?
To qualify for the CAPABLE program, partners must be:
65+ years old
We partner with seniors age 65 and older for the CAPABLE program. If you are below 65, you may qualify for our other home repair programs.
Limited in home care
To qualify for CAPABLe, homeowners must have difficulty performing at least one daily living activity (i.e. bathing) or two instrumental activities (i.e. cooking).
Living at or below 80% of the area median income
We partner with seniors who have low- to moderate incomes and who have repair needs in their current home.
In Colorado, the average age of a CAPABLE partner is 80.2 years, with a fixed income of about $2,000 a month (200% below the current poverty level). Most, if they had to leave the home they own, would be unable to afford a rental home without the assistance of a Housing Choice Voucher, and few would be able to afford assisted living or nursing home care. While many residents live with family, more than half of the CAPABLE partners live alone and are solely responsible for self-care and home maintenance.
Become a CAPABLE partner
Do you have questions or would you like to inquire about participating in the CAPABLE program?
Contact: Amanda Goodenow (MS, OTR/L), CAPABLE Program Manager
Email: GoodenowA@VNAColorado.org
Phone: (303) 698-6302
The Impact
The CAPABLE program was founded by Sarah L. Szanton, PhD at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore in 2017. Research on early participants demonstrates the following impacts*:
- 79% of participants improved their self-care over the course of five months
- Participants experienced a decrease in depressive symptoms
- CAPABLE cut inpatient costs by 34% compared to a comparison group
*Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Locally, Habitat and CVNA have already partnered with more than 100 seniors, with plans to partner with 60 more in the next year. In Colorado’s first year the program cut inpatient costs by 34%, and is estimated to save insurance costs and average of $22,000 per client over a two-year period by preventing one or more hospitalizations or emergency room visits. Additionally, of the first 23 clients to finish the program, the following improvements were reported:
- 77% saw an improvement in activities of daily living (ADLs)
- 57% saw an improvement over depression
- 53% saw an improvement over pain
- 48% saw an improvement over fall risk
