Pentwater Service Club launches Handy Person Service. 

Pentwater Service Club launches Handy Person Service. 

PENTWATER — Pentwater Service Club has launched a program to help provide routine maintenance for residents in need. The Handy Person Service (HPS) is a program specifically for seniors, the disabled, or persons recovering from surgery, who wish to remain independent but are unable to perform routine tasks like changing batteries in a smoke alarm, getting or staying connected to the Internet, or removing brush after a storm.

“In each of the last two Community Surveys, a large percentage of respondents reported that a major impediment to remaining in their homes was their inability to perform tasks that required strength, climbing or specialized knowledge,” said Mark Trierweiler, who coauthored the last two Greater Pentwater Area Surveys and now serves as president of the PSC.  

For the last four months, a team of Pentwater Service Club volunteers have been meeting to decide how best to address the issue, which could impact up to 90 percent of the residents in this retirement community of 1,200 people.  “When we looked at the PSC’s membership of more than 90 people, their many skills, and history of service to others, we knew this was a great fit for our club,” said Bart Zachrich, club vice-president and member of the steering committee that has been navigating how such a program would work and the types of services members would offer to area residents.  

“I’m a recent widow and I live alone in my 2,000 square foot house. There are things that need to be done that I simply can’t do for myself,” said Mary Beth Waller, who helped guide club decision makers on the types of services she needs to remain independent.  Waller, who is a remarkably healthy senior citizen says she can do most things for herself but just needs a little help working with contractors and maintenance items that require climbing.  Club planners interviewed Waller and many others to arrive at a list of maintenance items PSC members said they were willing to do to help people like her.

The PSC plans to roll out the HPS in stages beginning in May to gauge the volume of people that express interest in the program, with the hope of making it available to everyone in the 49449 zip code by the end of July.  “A mailing to everyone in the greater Pentwater area is planned over several weeks to make certain demand doesn’t exceed our capabilities to meet the needs of our neighbors,” said Anne Soles, club member and former senior care specialist who has signed up to be one of the coordinators of the program.  According to Soles, 15 different services are being offered to area residents by club volunteers.  

Donations for services provided through the HPS will be accepted.  Club volunteers hope that people with the financial means will contribute what the service would normally cost if it were available from a for-profit-business so that revenues from the program can be used to help those unable to pay for them.  “The PSC is a not-for-profit organization and 100 percent of the money it collects from the myriad of programs it offers go right back into those programs,” said Steve Russell, club secretary who helped plan the program. 

“We’ve already received very positive, pre-launch feedback on the HPS from area agencies like the Oceana County Council on Aging,” Trierweiler said, adding, “If it’s as successful as we think it will be, we intend to share our model and experience with other communities in Oceana County with the hope that similar services will be offered to their residents.”

Anyone interested in the PSC’s HPS should wait until they receive a mailing from the club, which will announce its availability in their area.  A special telephone number has been set up to make it easier for area residents to request assistance.  That number is 

231-737-8423 (SERVICE). 

Persons wanting to donate their skills to the program should go to www.serviceclub.org and select the membership tab.

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