good works ENCORE
Helping with Home Upkeep
Kristina Nguyen
Community Homeworks aids low-income homeowners
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dison neighborhood resident Barbara Horton started making payments on her house 21 years ago. Less than 10 years later, chronic and debilitating health issues forced Horton into early retirement from Kalamazoo Public Schools, where she worked for 21 years as a custodian. When her furnace broke down in 2012, two years after she had lost her income, the work and finances required to keep up her now 100-year-old house became too much to manage on her own. Horton found herself in the position many Kalamazoo-area residents have found themselves in — not being able to fix an aging home. One call to Community Homeworks, though, and Horton’s furnace was fixed for $10. The nonprofit organization, based in Kalamazoo, is committed to empowering low-income residents. “A furnace fixed for $10? You can’t beat that,” Horton says. “I was so thankful, because I didn’t know what I was going to do.” About 32 percent of homes in the city of Kalamazoo — more than 10,000 — are 75 years old or older, and more than 50 percent of homes are 50 years or older, according to U.S. Census data. These older homes are concentrated in parts of the city with the highest 10 | Encore OCTOBER 2014
Community Homeworks client Barbara Horton stands outside the organization’s offices, at 810 Bryant St.
percentages of people living on low incomes or in poverty, according to Community Homeworks. Because of the age of their appliances and building materials, these older homes are more costly to maintain, repair and upgrade, and there is a real need for post-purchase support for the homeowners. Older homes also are less energy-efficient, resulting in higher utility bills for owners. Often the costs become overwhelming to individuals and families struggling to make ends meet. Low-cost critical home repairs like Horton’s furnace repair, educational workshops, and weatherization and energy efficiency have been the three core areas of emphasis for Community Homeworks since it was founded in 2008. The goal of each of its programs is to empower homeowners to be able to maintain their own homes and make improvements that sustain the homes well into the future as energy-efficient buildings. “We’ve seen remarkable savings for low-income families through the weatherization program — sometimes almost $1,000 a year,”