Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity has been selected to participate in Repair Corps, a veterans-support initiative of Habitat for Humanity International and The Home Depot Foundation. The Repair Corps program helps low-income veterans make much-needed repairs to their homes – from roofing, electrical, caulking and weather stripping to installing wheelchair ramps and remodeling bathrooms for accessibility.
Asheville Area Habitat is one of 84 Habitat affiliates selected to participate in this program. Repair Corps is designed under the same model as new homes built with Habitat families where the veteran will repay the 0% interest loan necessary for these repairs. For local program and qualification information visit ashevillehabitat.org.
“We are excited to participate in Habitat for Humanity’s Repair Corps program and we are grateful to The Home Depot Foundation for funding this project,” said Kit Rains, Development Director for Asheville Area Habitat. “It is truly an honor to work in partnership with former service men and women and their families.”
As a participant in the program’s pilot phase, Asheville Area Habitat partnered with local veteran Raymond Cole earlier this year to repair his home of thirty seven years. Work included remodeling the bathroom by widening the doorframe and replacing a decades-old claw-foot tub with a handicap accessible shower. Other repairs included repairing a hole in a ceiling, raising up a problematic portion of the roof, replacing windows and rebuilding stairs. New shingles and gutters were also installed.
Like the homeownership program, the home repair program relies heavily on community volunteers. To learn about volunteering on a home repair project, visit ashevillehabitat.org.