Maybe you are not sure you are ready to start a home repairs ministry team or know where to start. You and a friend with some tools may be able to help an elderly person with some minor repairs. Read on - we can help! The best part is that it should not take you long to pull such an event together.
You Are Needed
There are a growing number of low-income homeowners: widows, single mothers, the elderly and disabled, who have homes but not the means to provide for basic or emergency repairs, which puts them at risk for injury, the inability to get out of or use their home and even homelessness due to foreclosure and condemnation. Community non-profits, which provide critical services to these same groups, face similar issues with their facilities in a down economy. These folks may be in your community (which provides an excellent opportunity to present the gospel to them in deed and Word), or they may be in your own church.
Do you know how great a need exists for people who can serve with tools? According to a survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, 64% of Americans don't have enough cash on hand to handle a $1,000 emergency expense1. A 2007 study (pre-economic and housing crash) shows that one-third of surveyed homeowners faced a repair they could not afford.2 And for the demographics we serve, doing the repairs themselves is just not an option.
Suggestions for a Local Short-Term Home Repair Mission Trip (for homeowners)
So how do you start looking for your short-term mission trip opportunity? Harvey Anderson, Executive Director for Home Repairs Ministries, shares some ideas:
Contact your local or county senior services agency volunteers coordinator to see what they know needs volunteers. Contact Dept. of Family and Children's Services (or whatever it is called near you) to see whether they know of a low-income family fostering children and in need of home repair help. This is especially needed where there are teens being fostered. Contact agencies that help people with disabilities to see if they can direct you to a need. Are there single mothers in your church network (members and their extended families and neighbors) whose homes need attention but cannot pay for maintenance? Has there been a localized disaster, e.g. a flood or tornado that swept through a neighborhood (though it may not officially be a declared emergency, see how those in the path feel about it)? Contact your county or state Emergency Management Agency to see whom to contact about helping. Inner-city/low-income neighborhood church leaders often know of someone in their congregation who needs help. Use the opportunity to serve alongside other Christ-followers. Make sure that you have a waiver to cover accidents and extra insurance for your team if needed.Footnotes:
1 - Sourced from National Foundation for Credit Counseling August 15th,, 2011 blog - http://financialeducation.nfcc.org
2 - William M. Rohe, Roberto Quercia, & Shannon Van Zandt, The Social-Psychological Effects of Affordable Homeownership, inChasing the American Dream: New Perspectives on Affordable Homeownership 284-318 (William M. Rohe & Harry L. Watson eds. 2007)
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