A local nonprofit has been helping low-income residents fix up their homes for 30 years. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi visited a project site and filed this report.
[sounds of impact driver, rummaging around in bin of screws, hammering]
Volunteers were hard at work on a mobile home between Stuarts Draft and Greenville last week. Six teens and two adults ran screws into new deck boards, while Project Manager Jeff Kiser manned the miter saw.
JEFF KISER: Today we're working on a single-wide mobile home trailer that needed a deck replacement and stairs replaced as well. … The front deck here is eight by 16, and it was bowed down quite a bit in the middle. It didn't have enough floor joists in it, and the ones that were in there were pretty bad shape.
The nonprofit Renewing Homes of Greater Augusta repairs homes and installs accessibility features for low-income homeowners in the Staunton, Augusta, Waynesboro area. Their services – free to the homeowner – are geared towards people who are older or have disabilities, and –
KISER: Meet low-income qualifications. You have to own your home. You have to not have any plans to sell your home, and be current on the payments. And you also have to be living in your home.
Common jobs include installing wheelchair ramps, repairing plumbing and water-damaged floors, and patching or replacing roofs. A lot of the work is done on mobile homes, and many of their clients are on fixed incomes, like Helen Norcross. She's originally from Rockbridge County and has lived in this home, overlooking farmland and mountains, for 30 years. Norcross heard about Renewing Homes from her sister. She reached out to see if she could get her deck repaired.
HELEN NORCROSS: 'Cause it was ready to fall in!
HAGI: Really? [both laugh] Sounds like a safety hazard!
NORCROSS: It was!… And I kept saying I was going to do it, and I never could get the money saved up to do it. On social security.
According to Census Bureau data, Augusta County and Staunton have a higher proportion of elderly residents than state and national averages. Waynesboro has higher poverty and disability rates, at 16% and 13% of the population, respectively. For homeowners in these demographics, Renewing Homes does repairs to keep them in their homes, in safe, warm, and dry conditions. About 40% of their funding is from donors, and 60% from grants. Major grants have come from federal and state programs, as well as charitable funds such as The United Way and the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge.
The cost of building materials has stayed high since spiking during the pandemic. But Executive Director Sharon Coplai explained they've been able to offset that expense –
SHARON COPLAI: … through the generosity of some of our suppliers, like, Eastside Construction in Elkton has donated roofing and siding materials, and Simpson Strong-Tie, which is a corporate organization, has twice now donated a significant contribution of construction hardware. … And then we also have a really good partnership with the Habitat for Humanity here in the Staunton, Augusta, Waynesboro area, and through their ReStore store we've received donated items like doors and windows and siding.
Volunteers provide most of the labor, outside of big jobs like total roof replacements. The crew working on Norcross's house was part of a larger group hailing from two United Methodist churches in the Tidewater area.
[cicadas buzzing]
LYDIA GARDINER: We've been working on doing the decks for this nice lady.
Sixteen-year-old Lydia Gardiner had heard family stories about service trips, and was excited to embark on one herself.
GARDINER: It's been really eye-opening, being able to see all of us work together, and to [laughs] see us experiencing new things and learning how to build things or help people. … Seeing their faces and seeing them being thankful and all of them being happy that we were here to help definitely has made it way more worth it than I thought it would be.
Kiser is one of the organization's two paid employees. His background includes both construction and mission work, so this position was a natural fit.
KISER: This job's been a blessing for me. …I enjoy doing this kind of work. I've always wanted to do a job like this, helping other folks, and bringing church members in, churches from all over. Not just Methodist churches. We've got Brethrens that volunteer, Lutherans, and Presbyterians.
He enjoys working with people.
KISER: And in the case of youth, you're not always teaching them – they don't always leave with the knowledge of how to build something, but it builds character and, like these youth are here for a week. On Monday, they may be kind of shy, and by the end of the week they've come around and you can really see a difference in the confidence.
Renewing Homes of Greater Augusta served 70 households last fiscal year. To learn about volunteer opportunities or applying for assistance, visit renewinghomes.org.
