Our home is a place of refuge. A place where we can relax and be comfortable. Where we can move around with ease. Well, this isn't always the case for everyone, as many factors affect how easy or difficult it is for someone to feel safe in their home. Our podcast explores those factors and practical solutions for making a home a safe space when things take a turn for the worst.
Elisha's Space welcomes Marian Berman, co-founder of Living In Place Solutions, who has a passion for people to live safely within their homes. Marian discovered her passion for helping people age in place through personal experience and near tragedy. As the owner of Gallery 44, a successful and acclaimed art gallery in Howard County Maryland, Marian enjoyed a wonderful life until 2012 when she contracted pneumonia and sepsis. Within four days, she went from a workaholic businesswoman into a medically induced coma.
After coming out of the coma 4 weeks later, Marian spent the next 3 ½ months in the hospital recovering. Finally released from the hospital she couldn’t wait to get home and back to her normal life. What happened next changed the trajectory of her career path. No one had thought to inspect her home to make sure it was livable for someone in Marian’s current condition. She couldn’t even get up the stairs to enter her home.
Undaunted, Marian put her business experience and contacts in the health services and home remodeling industries to work for her and refitted the house for her needs as she continued to recover.
In 2014, she became a home remodeling facilitator and began working with long-time friend and home remodeler Michael Stack to retrofit homes for the aging and physically handicapped. She received her Aging In Place Certification in 2020, her Age Safe America Certification in 2021 and her Living In Place Certification in 2021. As of 2021, she’s designated as a Age Safe America Specialist. She founded Living In Place Solutions with Michael Stack in 2021 to make homes safe for people of all ages and abilities.
We talk about her journey and how you can support others experiencing similar transitions. I can't wait for you to hear this episode.
