An Elkhart retirement community is hosting a big garage sale of sorts from Thursday through Saturday. Like any garage sale, they aim to clear space and generate cash.
Hubbard Hill, a nonprofit, says that cash will support a good cause. But first, the merchandise. Sometimes families donate it when their loved ones die. Some of it was no longer needed after renovations. Some of it was used to stage living areas for prospective residents.
”It’s quite a bit of volume of items to come and shop through," says Hubbard Hill’s Jodi Spataro.
She says proceeds from the sale will start a new Benevolence Fund to help Hubbard Hill residents who are facing financial difficulties.
”Honestly people are living longer, which is a great thing to celebrate but it’s also a financial reality that nobody has planned for," Spataro says.
As an example, she says to imagine a 94-year-old woman whose husband has died. They worked and saved their whole lives, did everything right, and had planned their finances to maybe live into their mid-80s.
“Savings are starting to deplete," she says. "She doesn’t need a nursing home. Medicare isn’t paying for the additional (assisted living) care that she needs. We don’t want to turn her away. We are a faith-based community and we believe that a person’s worth doesn’t run out when their savings do.”
