We're raising money to help East Kentucky families in need!
Thanks to a matching grant, any gift you give now through September DOUBLES! A donation of $25 instantly becomes $50, or a generous contribution of $100 is doubled to become $200!!
It's hard to make it in this world without a good home.
From the pandemic and a rare spring windstorm to folks losing their jobs or even their homes, these trying times have revealed the need for a good home in ways we haven’t seen before in East Kentucky.
Normally, at this point in the year, we'd do a Repair Affair - where we make repairs at no cost to 10 homes in one day, but fears about the ongoing pandemic have led us to cancel that event for 2021. Instead, as part of our Heartstrings Houses project, we're completing home repairs on 9 houses that illustrate the needs of our community, with the 10th house belonging to a family we could have never helped before!
That's why we need YOU! No one likes to ask for money, but as a nonprofit, we can't provide our programs and services to those who need them most without your help. Everything we do is made possible by grants, funders, and gifts from our supporters and from those who believe in the power of affordable housing to change lives.
A better, safer, more accessible home can improve the lives of so many - Kermit & Eva, Janice, Herman, Shirley, Betty, and others.
Janice is a grandmother on a very low-income who lives alone and can’t afford the numerous repairs her home needs. Janice’s home has rotting floors, no reliable heat source, and porches unsafe for her to walk on. With your help, we can make her home better, safer, more affordable, and perhaps most importantly, give her the comfort of knowing that her home will stand the test of time.
One couple you’d be helping is Kermit and Eva (pictured above). Kermit and Eva live in a remote location in Breathitt County and are in desperate need of a new bathroom. Kermit and Eva both have disabilities and other health problems, but Kermit, who has serious mobility problems, is finding it more and more difficult to climb into his bathtub. With your help, Kermit will have a bathtub/shower that is safer for him to use, and we’ll be able to make other bathroom modifications to prevent falls and create a more useable space.
There are so many other families in our region who need home repairs but can't afford them, and in several of these cases, we can’t help them. Why? Their incomes are so low that we can't get them approved for a loan, which means they don't qualify for our Home Repair Program. This is always heartbreaking.
No one should have to give up on the things they need simply because they can't afford them. Without HDA and its funders, none of the families in our area seeking assistance would receive the help they need, and without you, the 10th family in our Heartstrings Houses project won't get help simply because they don't make enough money.
These families are our "Heartstrings." The only way we can help them is through our funders and donations given by our friends and supporters. Without that support, Kermit and Eva won't get a new bathroom and their safety will be constantly at risk. Janice will have to struggle to get around her house as she gets older, and her home will be a lot colder this winter. Betty will have to continue living in an unsafe, poor quality home.
Hopes and dreams are squashed every day in Appalachia simply because someone can't afford the things they need. That's unacceptable to us, and we know it's unacceptable to you.
That's why your support is so critical! Please make your gift NOW to help a family have a better, safer home and the stability they need. Give what you can - we are so incredibly grateful!
Thank you for helping East Kentucky families,
R. Scott McReynolds
Executive Director