They say it takes a village to raise a child, and in our recent experience, it also takes a village to repair a home. When SoWe homeowner Jeanna and her family reached out to us with safety concerns in their house, we immediately got to work to connect her with our home repair program, as well as the City of Lancaster’s Office of Healthy Homes. Work began right away on the critical-level repairs, which included concerning electrical issues. When the City of Lancaster ran into roadblocks with their funding, SoWe was able to step in to fill the gaps to keep the projects moving.

In typical home maintenance fashion, fixing one thing was often blocked by another. For example, when it was time for the City to fix concerns in the attic, we discovered an infestation of bees -- SoWe was able to pay to remediate them so that the City could do their work. And when it was time to fix issues with the subfloor, SoWe paid for a dumpster that otherwise would not have been covered by the City’s grant funding restrictions – again, keeping the projects moving forward.  

Working together allowed us to maximize the amount of funding available to make Jeanna’s home safer, which makes all the difference for an individual living on a fixed income. We have since moved on to re-engineering her alleyway, which now correctly diverts stormwater away from a basement-level window. SoWe has also funded the repair of her front porch: a point of pride for Jeanna, who delights in sharing how her home was built around the same time as St. Joseph Catholic Church across the street. Windows, brick repointing, and interior repairs remain on the punch-list, all with the intent of keeping her in a safe and affordable home here in the neighborhood for years to come.