By Gary Lloyd
BIRMINGHAM — Greater Birmingham Habitat for Humanity has been selected to participate in Habitat for Humanity International’s Repair Corps program, an initiative funded by The Home Depot Foundation to help repair, renovate or construct the homes of U.S. veterans.
Habitat Birmingham is one of up to 20 Habitat affiliates selected for Habitat’s 2014 Repair Corps program.
“We are excited to participate in Habitat for Humanity’s Repair Corps program, and grateful to The Home Depot Foundation for funding this project,” said Charles Moore, president and CEO of Greater Birmingham Habitat for Humanity. “We are honored to work alongside former service men and women, and their families, to provide critical repairs to their homes.”
Habitat’s Repair Corps program is funded by The Home Depot Foundation. With donations of $6.2 million to date, including $2.7 million in 2014 in cash and in-kind gift cards, The Home Depot Foundation supports Habitat grants for Repair Corps projects ranging from new construction to home repair projects such as roofing and weather stripping, to the installation of wheelchair ramps and renovated bathrooms and doorways to accommodate disabled veterans. Repair Corps grants will be allocated in amounts up to $15,000 for each project.
“While veteran homelessness has declined in recent years, it is critical that we have support systems in place for veterans covering the whole housing spectrum to ensure that a few years from now, we are not faced with a rising tide of negative statistics again,” said Kelly Caffarelli, president of The Home Depot Foundation. “That is why we support programs like Habitat’Repair Corps as part of our mission to ensure every veteran has a safe place to call home.”
Funding for Habitat’s Repair Corps is part of a five-year, $80 million investment The Home Depot Foundation is making to multiple organizations to repair and renovate homes and public housing facilities for U.S. veterans.
As is required of new Habitat homeowners, veterans selected to partner with Habitat’s Repair Corps program will repay zero-interest loans covering a portion of the costs of their repairs. Loan amounts will be determined on a sliding scale based on the veteran’s income to ensure affordability for the veteran.
Greater Birmingham Habitat for Humanity has been big in the city of Clay in the past year. In May 2013, 10 families received keys to their new homes as part of its Eighth Annual Home Builders Blitz in the Winchester Hills subdivision in Clay. Last month in the same subdivision, a woman and her daughter received the key to their new home, an unveiling two weeks in the making as part of Greater Birmingham Habitat for Humanity’s “Home for the Holidays.”
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.