I was recently in a discussion about the poor state of repair of many single family homes and their properties. One point that was made is that many of the long time residents of Rogers Park are getting on in years and may no longer be physically or financially able to maintain the property. It made think of a moment in my own past.

My father is/was disabled when I was very young and was unable to maintain our family home as it should have been. After years of neglect and shoddy repair work, the house was in a bad way. Luckily, there were neighbors who lived in the community who were able to get charitable donations of labor and materials made to repair some of the home. They replaced the rotting front stairs, repaired a sagging floor, patched leaks in the roof, pruned trees and bushes and many other things.

Is there some sort of comunity program currently inplace that might allow us to assist those who currently are in the same boat? One home that comes to mind is on the southwest corner of Sheridan and Fargo. It's a beautiful old place and I have seen the owner just a few times. He seems to be in poor health.

Any ideas you have would be greatly appreciated.