Tuesday, November 17, 1998
Work begins on Friedman Village
By Malinda Ruble
Staff Writer
Ground was broken for the first Friedman Village Independent Living Coach Home at 175 St. Francis Ave. Monday morning.
The homes are a joint project between AdCare Health Systems of Springfield and Tiffin University II, which is a separate corporation of Tiffin University.
''It is unique for us to partner with a university. It's important that a university wants to step out and provide services for senior citizens,'' said Iva DeWitt-Hoblit, vice president of marketing and development for AdCare.
Lisa Williams, vice president of TU II, said the new housing is designed to help erase some fears.
''TU researched carefully the needs of retired community members of Tiffin, and concluded simply that our sincerest wish was to bring hassle-free living to those individuals who have better things to do with their time,'' Williams said. ''We would like to erase the fears that your life is over when you move in. It's more like a type of condo living here.''
Friedman Village is the result of a property donation by Robert and Eugenie Friedman and an arrangement between Tiffin University and AdCare.
The 18 units each offer two bedrooms, two full baths, a dining room with French doors, an attached garage and an optional gas fireplace.
DeWitt-Hoblit said the Tiffin homes were designed with consumer input.
''One of the neatest things about this project is that we included consumer planning,'' DeWitt-Hoblit said. ''One year ago, we sat down with residents and said 'If you were building, what would you do?' And then later we had a focus group in Tiffin and then we put all of this information together and the architect incorporated the consumer requests.''
One addition to the home made due to consumer input was the inclusion of a porch.
''We found that one thing they wanted was a front porch,'' she said.
Architect Mike Milligan said the porch was needed to help consumers feel at home.
''The homes are designed to meet the needs of the elderly. A lot of grandmas' houses' have front porches. Tiffin has great front porches,'' he said.
DeWitt-Hoblit said American Disabilities Act-compliant toilets and showers can be added to the home.
''There are several options that can be added to the house that can literally help them to live there longer,'' she said.
Anyone interested in a home must pay a residence fee and a monthly maintenance fee. The residence fee is paid in advance of construction and 75 to 98 percent of the fee can be refunded to the occupant if they leave the home.
The maintenance fee is to provide for interior and exterior maintenance, to provide and maintain appliances, to maintain the grounds, to cover taxes and insurance, to pay for garbage collection, to pay for a security system and a medical alert system and to help sponsor special events and social activities.
''If you are the homeowner of a decent home and have $1,500 a month in income, you can afford this,'' said DeWitt-Hoblit.
To find out more about the homes, call Leanne Smith at 443-1445.