Housing

Once Upon a Time
by Kathy Nelle

When we see the word HOME most of us think: COMFORT; security, peacefulness, family, friends, our nest. We all have our own, very personal, feelings and reasons to want a home. But what if our home is falling down around our heads?

Many of us have owned and/or built a home and we remember climbing the ladders, crawling under the house to repair plumbing, painting, doing what ever was needed to keep the house together, protecting it from the normal wear and tear caused by humans, animals and nature.

We are all capable, up to a point, of doing this regular maintenance, and then as time goes on and we get older, or our disabilities become more severe, climbing up a ladder becomes too dangerous and crawling on our knees can be too much; besides the hands aren’t as flexible as they were last year. So, one hole in the roof doesn’t get patched, the first little leak becomes a major leak that is now dripping into the house on to the floors, it is now urgent to put on a new roof.

How many of us have $4,000 to $5,000 saved up to hire someone to do that job? To some people two or three hundred dollars a month doesn’t sound like much, but when the total household income from Social Security totals around $7,000 a year it is a fortune. That $7,000 has to pay for a car, insurance, home insurance, bills, food, and all of the extras. Many of our clients also have disabilities that keeps them from being able to work at better paying jobs, and they just plain can’t do the necessary home repairs.

Now, since the broken windows weren’t replaced, and the railings and steps are rotting and the foundation is being consumed by termites, with the wind blowing through a damaged door, the HOME becomes an unfriendly and dangerous place.

When FORGE’S Executive Director, Al West, heard about the HOME program—a HUD funded program run in Arkansas by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority (ADFA)—he contacted ADFA and enrolled FORGE in the program. FORGE can now deliver this much needed assistance to the rural residents of Madison and Carroll Counties in Northwest Arkansas.

The HOME program offers forgivable loans from $1,000 to $25,000 to low income individuals who qualify. They must be able to demonstrate that they have paid real estate taxes on the property, that they have lived there for five years, and that it is their principal domicile. They also must agree, after the renovation work is completed, to continue to live in the home for 5 or 10 years. If the cost of renovating a home exceeds $25,000, the ADFA can offer the clients a loan up to $65,000 at 1% interest to complete the work. There are options for the heirs, also.

FORGE, with the help of a licensed contractor, will begin work on the first package (8 homes) in April, 2003. After 7 months of preparation, we will start to repair the roofs that are leaking, put in bathrooms with floors and plumbing, install handicap accessible showers, replace outdated furnaces, windows, doors and floors and build ramps for wheelchairs.

In some cases FORGE is even able to help the homeowners build a new home. These homeowners, with unique situations, never imagined owning a new home. Our goal is to make the homes safe and livable so the owners can stay in their homes as long as possible and take care of themselves and/or their partners. Most people resist going to a nursing home or a retirement home, the HOME program will help keep these people independent, and in their own homes.

FORGE currently has 38 applicants on its waiting list. There is such a need in Northwest Arkansas for this type of assistance that FORGE is projecting that the HOME program is booked until 2005.

Dreams do come true!

Housing Resources

Where to Apply for Home Rehab