Ingrid Holt grew up in Germany but has lived in the United States for over 60 years. Now she lives in the Residences at Courtyard Crossing, an innovative apartment complex in Independence.
Ingrid Holt grew up in Germany. When she was 17, though, she met and married a U.S. soldier who was stationed in her hometown. They moved back to the States and started a family. That was over 60 years ago. Now she has four kids, eight grandkids, and eight great grandkids, the youngest of whom is three years old.
Most recently, Ingrid and her husband lived in Carrollton, Kentucky, in a mobile home park. She worked in a school, and he worked as a machinist. When he passed away, her children encouraged her to move north to the Independence area, to be closer to them. The principal at the school begged her to stay, but, she said, it was time, so she he retired and moved into the Residences at Courtyard Crossing, a 47-unit, age-restricted (55+) rental housing community that was funded in part through Kentucky Housing Corporation's innovation pool.
“I had choices,” she said. “I could go to somewhere else. But I didn’t want to. I came here, and I thought, that’s where I want to be.”
She lives on the second floor with her dog, Boo Boo. Her daughter stops by every other day or so, she said, and her son brings her groceries. In the evenings, she and about five other residents congregate in the community room on couches in front of a wide gas fireplace. On Tuesday afternoons, she joins the Bible study there, which is led by another resident.
“You see how nice and clean everything is?” she asked. “They keep it this way.”
Ingrid has no plans to leave Courtyard Crossing.
“I love it here,” she said. “I’ll probably die here.”
Photos by Steve Morrow
