|
Housing & Community | Real Life Stories « Homeowner Rehabilitation Program»
Homeowner Rehabilitation Program Success Stories
Collaboration Enables Wheelchair Access for Homeowner in Need
Barry Clevenger never thought helping his nephew install guttering would change his life. But when the gutter piece he was holding touched electrical wires, the shock caused serious burns and threw Barry eight feet to the ground. Tragically, the accident also led to Barry’s paralysis from the waist down.
After six weeks in the IC burn unit and rehab, Barry returned to his home in Laeger, West Virginia - a house simply not equipped to handle his wheelchair.
That’s when the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) stepped in to provide volunteer labor and a portion of free materials to renovate the Clevenger home and build a much-needed wheelchair ramp. Safe Housing and Economic Development (SHED), an Equal Housing Opportunity organization in West Virginia, provided $15,000 from FHLBank Pittsburgh’s Homeowner Rehabilitation Program (HRP) to cover the funding gap. Pioneer Community Bank, a member of FHLBank, distributed the funds to SHED. A Housing Preservation Grant from USDA-Rural Development was also used for the project, forming a truly collaborative community effort.
Sharon Walden, Executive Director of SHED, and member of the McDowell County WV Blueprint Communities team, said the HRP grant was “a perfect way to provide funding for the work to be done on Barry Clevenger’s home.”
FHLBank Pittsburgh started the Homeowner Rehabilitation Program in 2007 to provide housing repair and rehabilitation assistance to low-income homeowners in its three-state district of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware. In the program’s first year, SHED received a total of $150,000 in grants from FHLBank Pittsburgh to use for home repairs in West Virginia’s McDowell and Wyoming counties.
Barry and his wife Scarlet couldn’t be happier with the wheelchair accessibility and general improvements made to their home.
“There was a time when my home was not handicap accessible and I couldn’t go to the kitchen table to have a meal with my wife,” Barry said.
“Thanks to SHED, MCC and FHLBank Pittsburgh through the Pioneer Community Bank in Laeger for making this possible.”
|
