HOME WORKS OF AMERICA INC

Home Works of America • Dividends of Free Home Repair

Need

Across the country, an immense need remains to address the substandard and affordable housing crisis, particularly as it relates to our elderly, those with disabled family members at home, and veterans. According to the Center for American Progress, “More than 30 million housing units in the United States have significant physical or health hazards, such as dilapidated structures, poor heating, damaged plumbing, gas leaks, or lead. Some estimates suggest that the direct and indirect health care costs associated with housing-related illness or injuries are in the billions of dollars. The condition of housing is even more important for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities who need housing structures that support their particular needs” (Center for American Progress, July 20 2016).

Executive Summary
A typical homeowner assisted by Home Works is a 76 year old black woman, living alone on $12,000 or less per year. Into this person’s isolated world we bring middle school, high school, college youth and adult volunteers. Home Works oversees various repair projects, ranging from the replacement of roofs to the construction of ramps, the gutting and renovations of bathrooms and kitchens, the repairing of ceilings, and the painting of walls (interior/exterior), and improving safety by installing grab bars, smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. In order to complete these projects free of charge to the homeowner, Home Works relies on the generous donations of individuals, corporations, churches and foundations. The impact these repairs have on our homeowners extends beyond cosmetic improvements to the health and well-being of grandchildren and great grandchildren who may frequently visit or even reside in these homes. Home Works provides a real SOLUTION in which a community-trusted, local, Christ-centered construction nonprofit, its stake holders and other philanthropic entities can work together and address the direct connection between substandard housing and the health and financial stability of homeowners, bringing real change.

Triadic Approach with Real Dividends

Return on Investment

Prior to a Home Works repair, the inhabitable expectancy of our typical home is 0-3 years. Home Works repairs extend that life cycle anywhere from 7.5 to 15 years increasing the affordable housing inventory. Included in those repairs are building envelope and energy efficiency efforts that can lower utility bills by up to 30%, putting valuable dollars back into the homeowner’s limited budget to purchase medicine and food. Allowing seniors to age in place saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal assisted living funds. More than 92 percent of each dollar donated to Home Works goes directly to program services. In 2019 alone, we underwrote 174 home repairs, the most in our 24-year history. Importantly, the emotional relief to a homeowner who can age in place, in what typically is a long-time family home, is immeasurable.

Healthcare
Safety issues in a home are addressed at each Home Works repair session to mitigate dangerous situations and improve the physical health of the home and the homeowners. Our volunteers install grab bars and other protection from falls, attend to egress and air quality issues and focus on any other issues in the home that may lead to injuries, costly ER visits, hospital stays, readmissions dollars and fines. Mental health issues are mitigated as the threat of a home falling down around you is eliminated. Connection and compassion from our volunteers build emotional health, sweeping away the despair and loneliness many of our homeowners face daily. And a homeowner’s spiritual health improves when Home Works arrives as a long-awaited answer to their daily prayers.

Equality
Home Works invites all to serve. Home Works’ commitment to equality and social reforms springs from our clear understanding of who our Creator is and His love for each of us as human beings. Race, economic status and other issues that may divide us begin to disappear when neighbors integrate isolated homeowners into real community as they care for their own. Likewise, Home Works’ dedication to mentorship and second chances for at-risk youth requires an emotional investment from adult volunteers from all walks of life and has changed the lives of many young people involved in the program. The same is true of volunteers and stakeholders from privileged backgrounds who are exposed for the first time to poverty and crippling disadvantage.

Call to Action
Since 1996, Home Works of America (Home Works) has provided free home repairs to elderly, disabled and veteran homeowners throughout North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia within a trusted model featuring a student volunteer workforce led by skilled adult leaders, application verification and quality, compassionate construction. In today’s climate, our homeowner needs – a byproduct of substandard housing rooted in decades of racial inequality, unhealthy homes, continued poverty and systemic injustice - have intensified with the emergence of COVID-19. As we move forward into a post-Covid future, one thing Is certain - POVERTY, RACIAL INEQUALITY AND HEALTH AND SAFETY CHALLENGES DO NOT STOP DURING A PANDEMIC and will never be solved without intelligent, purposeful action. Home Works is eager to partner on new solutions that focus on the health and wellbeing of families in our state: on fellow South Carolinians whose substandard housing affect their physical, emotional and relational health as well as their financial stability due to the burdensome costs of keeping a (leaky) roof over their heads.
Home Works will continue to spread God’s love by providing free home repairs for elderly, disabled and veteran homeowners. We’ve learned that the DIVIDENDS of a home repair go far beyond a new roof or a new set of steps. These critical repairs are also medicine for the ills of poverty, inequality and healthcare concerns; wounds soothed by volunteer service, cross-cultural collaborations, strategic partnerships and a REAL Return on Investment for donors, stakeholders and most importantly, our homeowners. These and other dividends prove that Home Works is a vital part of our state’s solution to the problems of affordable housing, workforce development and racial inequality. Our mandate is taken from the greatest commandment to “Love our neighbor.” Only with a heart change, will we see the justice and equality our country so desperately desires.
Will you prayerfully consider partnering with our mission through prayer, volunteering and/or giving? To find out more, to volunteer or to give – please visit with us at www.homeworksofamerica.org.