Renovation Alliance (RA) held its annual Community Renovation Day on Saturday, October 5th. Approximately 150 volunteers participated in the service event to repair the homes of 9 individuals and families in need, free of charge.
The event brings awareness to Renovation Alliance’s mission: to meet the critical and necessary home repair needs of low-income homeowners in the Roanoke Valley area through volunteer and community engagement. Renovation Alliance believes deeply that every person has the right to live in a warm, safe, dry, accessible, and healthy home regardless of income, and that by ensuring this right, the entire community and future generations will benefit. By providing free critical and necessary home repairs to homeowners in need, Renovation Alliance works to preserve affordable homeownership.
“The work completed during Community Renovation Day is critical to meeting the home repair needs of homeowners in our community,” said Kendall Cloeter, Executive Director of Renovation Alliance. “This event brought together volunteers from local businesses, churches, and community groups to complete repairs that rebuild warm, safe, dry, and accessible homes.” Volunteers involved in the event made significant donations of their time, energy, and expertise to make tangible impacts on the health and safety of homeowners in need, preservation of affordable housing, and community revitalization. Organizations hosting such events often explore volunteer appreciation ideas to recognize the hard work and dedication of their volunteers. Further, individual homeowners assisted with free home repairs report improvements to their quality of life, physical health, mental outlook, and community connection.
Homeowners with low and limited incomes, particularly those who are 60 years of age and older, face a heightened risk of poor housing quality due to the unaffordability of routine home maintenance, repairs, and accessible modifications. “Homeowners served by Renovation Alliance and its volunteers are unable to afford the high cost of home repairs and maintenance. The average household income of folks we serve is around $22,000 per year while the average value of the home repairs we’re completing is over $6,000”, said Cloeter.
One project completed during this event was to build an accessible ramp for Ms. Bowen, a homeowner in the City of Roanoke. “I’d fallen walking up the steps to my house many times”, said Ms. Bowen. “Now it will be easier for me to get into the house with my walker”. Volunteers from Cave Spring United Methodist Church built the accessible ramp and will also install handrails on the home’s front steps. “They’ve been just like worker bees today! They’ve been such a blessing”, said Ms. Bowen.
Home repairs completed during Community Renovation Day were made possible by financial support from the CSX Foundation, MKB Realtors, City of Roanoke, Freedom First Credit Union, Kiwanis Club of Roanoke, Grandin Court Baptist Church, and MemberOne Credit Union.
Photographs taken during this event are provided by Renovation Alliance. Permission to distribute photographs of volunteers and homeowners obtained during this event has been provided.
Visit www.renovateALL.org for more information.