Waco Habitat for Humanity is kicking off a pilot program aimed at repairing homes for disabled veterans and upgrading them with accessibility features.

Home Depot partnered with Habitat for Humanity International to provide grants for critical home repairs for disabled veterans.

The Waco Habitat chapter will receive up to $100,000 to work on 10 local veterans homes, or as much as $10,000 per home, said Britt Duke, the project manager overseeing the effort for Waco Habitat.

Rick Simon of Waco Habitat for Humanity nails boards Thursday during construction of a wheelchair ramp at an East Waco home as volunteers Gary Johnson, far left, and B.J. Smith look on.
Duane A. Laverty / Waco Tribune-Herald

The nonprofit is accepting applications from veteran homeowners. Five homes already have been approved.

The program will cover projects like plumbing, roofing, flooring, electrical and health and safety issues, as well as installing handicap-accessible features like showers and handrails, Duke said. The work will be completed by local contractors with some assistance from Habitat volunteers.

The veterans home repair program is part of a larger pilot program called the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, which focuses on home rehabilitation. The Waco chapter is one of 50 centers within Habitat for Humanity International chosen to administer the effort before it is rolled out nationally.

“We were chosen to be one of the early implementers because we already had a program in place,” said John Alexander, executive director of the Waco Habitat chapter. “It certainly fits well within our program, and it allows us to help more families because it’s an additional funding source on top of what we were already doing.”

To qualify for the program, veterans must own the home needing repairs, and the total household income must fall between 20 and 60 percent of the median area income for their household size. For a family of four, that threshold is between $10,800 and $32,400.

Alexander said participants also will have to pay back a portion or all of the repair costs, depending on their household income.

The funding lasts through May 2012. But Alexander said he hopes Waco Habitat will be able to secure more funds after the program is expanded nationally in July.

Steve Hernandez, veterans services officer for McLennan County, said a couple of veterans have come to him for help with home repairs like replacing a bathtub with a handicap-accessible shower or fixing a faulty breaker box.

Hernandez has had to refer veterans to the Veterans Affairs Regional Office to apply for grants through the Specially Adapted Housing Program. But those funds often are restricted to veterans with a service-related disability. The Habitat program is available to any veteran.

“I think it’s a good thing. I think that the more people become aware of it and take advantage of that, we’ll hopefully be able to get the grant next year and continue serving veterans,” Hernandez said, adding that he has already referred a few veterans to Waco Habitat.

Additional funding

In addition to the funds from Home Depot, Waco Habitat has received grants from the Paul and Jane Meyer Foundation and Habitat International for the larger Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative.

Rick Simon of Waco Habitat for Humanity, right, positions a board as volunteer worker Mike Erlanson is ready with a level during construction of a wheelchair ramp at an East Waco home.
Duane A. Laverty / Waco Tribune-Herald

Those funds will cover critical repairs to homes throughout the greater Waco area. Alexander said the organization has completed about 40 projects this year since starting the pilot.

The Cooper Foundation also granted the nonprofit $26,985 for its first full-home rehabilitation of a home in the Carver Park neighborhood.

Alexander said home repair projects can be trickier to tackle than new home construction because older homes can have any number of uncovered issues that must be addressed.

For many of the tasks, such as roof replacement or electrical wiring, Habitat has hired contractors to complete the work and used volunteers in smaller roles like painting or installing insulation because of safety reasons.

Alexander said updating existing homes allows the organization to help more people and extend the life of area neighborhoods.

“We have a lot of older housing stock that is deteriorating, and a lot of them that are in the neighborhoods where we work are low-income residents who can’t afford the repairs,” Alexander said. “By doing this, we’re preserving the housing stock and beautifying it to where it will last another generation, and that helps the neighborhood.”

rdennis@wacotrib.com

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