Home rehabilitation is a Basic Need supported by Americans Helping Americans® in four Appalachian communities.
This year, Americans Helping Americans® gifted four organizations $65,000 to complete 141 projects servicing 154 individuals.
Among them was Appalachian Ministries of the Smokies (AMOS) in Jefferson City, Tennessee.
AMOS recruits volunteers to assist with the home repair projects, allowing them to maximize the use of their funds to serve as much of the community as they can.
One recipient this summer, Evelyn, age 75, lived in a double-wide manufactured home, which needed extensive work done.
She relied on her son to help with various household tasks and administer her medicine.
The left side of the front porch collapsed due to a falling tree last year during a storm, and the remaining deck surface and structure were deteriorated and in need of replacement.
Her wall underneath the living room window and bedroom window were rotten due to window air conditioning units.
She had no deck on the rear entrance and no steps.
There were also signs of effluent above the septic tank at the time the team visited for inspection.
Lastly, her shingles were in really bad shape.
After the team from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, finished the project, Mrs. Evelyn expressed her joy to AMOS.
“I’m able to sit outside of my porch for the first time in years,” she expressed while pulling air in from her oxygen machine. “I’m so proud of my porch and everything they did for me.”
She speculated that those kids were going to grow up knowing what it felt like to help people, and she hopes they continue to do that.
Our grants give immediate aid to those who are most vulnerable in our society as well as empower the people who want to act and provide services for their fellow American.
Our grants multiply the impact by strengthening the hands that lift others out of poverty.
In Cleveland, Tennessee, Ocoee Outreach (OO) provided vital services to the needy.
Americans Helping Americans® funds covered approximately half the cost of their home rehab program’s budget.
Ours is an essential grant to the community to make homes livable, eliminate substandard housing, and alleviate health hazards for residents.
Ms. Gwenith Lyes is a single woman in her seventies living with her adult son who suffered an aneurysm last fall.
She’s on a fixed income and trying to be a caretaker for her son.
Sadly, her oldest son passed away in April this year. “I’m in the middle of the hardest season of my life,” she said as the team came to inspect her home.
On top of this difficult time, her roof needed to be replaced, the roof over her deck blew off from a storm last year, the porch itself was rotten, and her back porch was missing.
The skilled team from Perry, Florida, made sure not to just repair this poor woman’s home but also show her the love she deserves as a person.
