Shoveling assistance available for at-risk residents in Metro Detroit

The snow and frigid temperatures are a risk to seniors and people with disabilities. Shoveling is not recommended for those groups, but luckily, there are free programs that can help.

Light snow fell across parts of Southeast Michigan on Tuesday, and inside her Detroit home, Letitia Cuyler looks forward to the end of winter.

"Absolutely, especially the way this winter came, and I'm sure a lot of other countries and states are too," Cuyler said.

Cuyler uses a cane to navigate her home.

"After I retired, they discovered that I had a disease in my knee, which was osteoarthritis, separation of the bone," Cuyler said.

Because of her mobility issues, Cuyler searched online for programs that could help with shoveling.

That's when she learned about Serve Detroit.

"I called over to my district office, and I spoke to Mr. Hughes, and he was just so polite, and I explained to him how it was handicapped, and he said, 'You're a senior, you're qualified,'" Cuyler said.

Like other seniors 65 and older or those with a registered handicap license plate, Cuyler qualified for the free snow removal service.

"We have volunteers come out and show whether your snow is six inches or more," said Steele Hughes, District 1 Manager for the city of Detroit. "If you get two snows in one week, you may get three inches and then four inches; that wouldn't trigger (the program); it has to be six inches at one time."

Volunteers like professional landscaper Robert Muhammad say the work is fulfilling.

"I have a gym membership I do not utilize, so being out here shoveling snow, that's my exercise," Muhammad said. "I grew up in Detroit, so I'm trying to help make my community a decent and safe place to live."

The need is so great, with about a thousand addresses on the list, that the initiative could use even more volunteers.

"So, we were able to hit 500 homes this week alone, just off the volunteers that we already have, but we want to expand it more," Hughes said.

Without the program, Cuyler says she would not have been able to make her next doctor's appointment.

"My ride was on the way, and they wouldn't have been able to get up the driveway if the city hadn't been here shoveling my snow for my transportation," Cuyler said.

Cuyler couldn't be more thankful.

"He was just God-sent. That's all I can say. He and his crew was God sent. And I'm just so thankful for it," Cuyler said.