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Habitat for Humanity executive director Alan Hill, center, receives a check from a Realtor program at the Utah Central Association of Realtors office in Orem on Monday, Feb. 8, 2026. Also in the photo (from left to right) are Realtor representatives Randall Hood, UCAR President Kristy Dimmick, Misty Williams, Stacy Douglas, Alan Hill (Habitat for Humanity), Alicen Koyle, Nancy Mickiewicz (Habitat for Humanity), Amanda Probst (Bank of Utah), UCAR CEO Peter Christensen and Kristen Combs.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Habitat for Humanity executive director Alan Hill talks about receiving donations from a Realtor program at the Utah Central Association of Realtors office in Orem on Monday, Feb. 8, 2026.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Utah Central Association of Realtors President Kristy Dimmick talks about the Realtor program that donated funds to Habitat for Humanity at the association office in Orem on Monday, Feb. 8, 2026.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Senior citizens and families living in Utah Valley that face necessary home repairs but lack the means to take care of them have a place to turn: Habitat for Humanity of Utah County’s critical home repair program.

A recent donation from the Utah Association of Realtors housing opportunity fund to the program ensures that several people will receive the assistance they need.

The Realtors association donated $45,000 to the Habitat for Humanity Monday, a pledge that Habitat’s executive director, Alan Hill, said will go a long way.

“This will help us with a year’s worth of supplies,” Hill said.

There is no one else in the community providing this specific service through a simple, grant-driven process, according to Hill. He said the need can be great, particularly for senior citizens who financially or health-wise are unable to address unexpected issues.

The program is intended to make household repairs that not only fix the immediate need, but prevent risk for greater financial burdens or injury.

The charity will perform fixes such as patching a hole in the roof or fixing the furnace. Hill said there was a woman in her 70s who called the program crying because her refrigerator broke during the winter, and she was concerned about how the food she had been keeping outside would stay cool as the weather began to warm up.

“We went to the store that day and got a refrigerator, something she hadn’t had in months,” Hill said. “But going to the store and getting a refrigerator was beyond any means that she had. And so, it’s (donations) like this that allow us to be able to react really quickly and just go out there and take care of it.”

Habitat for Humanity will also provide preventative services, including converting a bathtub into a flat shower or building a wheelchair ramp.

“A lot of different things that we can do to help protect them, so if they’ve had an injury, they don’t have another,” Hill said. “And if they’re on their way to having one, as in losing stability and range of motion and those types of things, hopefully they get to us in time that we can step in and prevent something more serious from happening.”

Stepping in and providing funds for the efforts was an easy decision for the Realtors association, according to Utah Central Association of Realtors Executive Committee 2026 President Kristy Dimmick.

She said Habitat for Humanity does a great job providing affordable home ownership and its other services, and that the critical home repair program is underutilized. Dimmick hopes families and seniors in need of assistance will reach out.

“There’s such a great need for that,” she said. “And as realtors, we love giving back to our community, and this is one of those organizations that it makes it easy to partner with, and we believe in everything that they do. They’re well organized and well-run.”

Hill said they frequently learn of people in need through referrals from cities or ecclesiastical leaders, or family or friends. He said Habitat is willing to come to people’s homes to sit down and help fill out an application.

Sometimes, he said people come to them with an extensive list of repairs and the charity does not have the funds to take care of everything, so they do a triage of the situation and tackle the most pressing issue.

“What is the problem that’s impacting your health, safety and welfare the most?” Hill said. “And we can take care of this, and we can take care of that.”