City Lends a Hand With Household Repair Jobs : Maintenance: Handyworker’s free services are available to senior citizens and others on fixed incomes.

Martha Cohen had always hired someone to paint the inside of her family home on the south side of Beverly Hills. This year, faced with the harsh realities of living on a pension and an uncertain economy, Cohen didn’t think she could afford the luxury. But she didn’t have to defer the maintenance because she took advantage of a little-known city program that did the work for her.

The Handyworker program provides minor household repairs and painting services to senior citizens, single parents, the handicapped and others living on a limited income, said program coordinator Dennis Bovey. The program is open to homeowners and renters.

Cohen said a crew of three workers came to her home and in 2 1/2 days replaced buckled tile in the foyer, painted the hallway and two bedrooms, repaired leaky faucets and took care of other small chores.

“I refused to accept the program for years,” said Cohen, who is retired. “We got flyers on the door. But I didn’t want to let anybody know what I made and I didn’t want to do all the paperwork (to apply).”

But faced with the cost of health insurance and maintaining her home on a pension, Cohen said she decided that she needed to take advantage of the program. Even the paperwork “is not bad if you make up your mind to do it,” she said.

“I worked for 42 years,” she said. “I worked all those years, but my dollars have shrunk with the economy.”

A lot of people who could use the Handyworker program just don’t know about it, Bovey said. “We send out flyers, but our best advertising is word of mouth.”

Bovey said that a one-person household can earn as much as $26,250 per year and qualify for the program but that 90% of the clients live on incomes of $16,400 and below. A two-person household can earn as much as $30,000 per year.

“There’s a misconception that there are no poor people in Beverly Hills,” Bovey said. Some residents have lived in their apartments as long as 30 years and are on fixed incomes. There are also single-parent families who have moved to the city because of the schools.

Residents may qualify for as much as $2,000 worth of materials and labor per year by completing a confidential application. Renters must have their landlord’s permission to receive services, but Bovey said most landlords are eager for their tenants to take advantage of the program.

“We share no personal income information with the landlord. The waiver form is only an OK for the work to be done,” he said.

Sharon Birnbaum, who has lived in her apartment for 14 years, said that when she first heard about the program “it sounded too good to be true. I thought it was just a come-on, but I decided to check it out anyway.”

She got her two-bedroom apartment painted and new hardware installed on some kitchen cabinet doors that wouldn’t close properly.

The program turned out be “a great thing for me,” said Birnbaum, 60. “If I had to pay $2,000, I just wouldn’t do it.”

The Handyworker program is funded by $142,000 in grant money from the federal government, Bovey said. By law, only 20% can be used for administration and overhead.

More than 300 people have been served since the program started in 1985. Typical services include minor electrical and plumbing repairs, painting and wall resurfacing, and installation of smoke detectors, deadbolt locks, window security guards, and ramps and handrails for the elderly or handicapped.

The Handyworker program is administered by the nonprofit United Community and Housing Development Corp., 5455 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 2100, Los Angeles. For further information, call (213) 936-8278.