City, Home Depot join up to make over 70 homes
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Ed Pietrusinski of the Home Depot store in East Liberty gathers up brush to feed into a chipper outside of the Southwestern Veterans Center on Highland Drive in Lincoln-Lemington on Wednesday. -
Keith Todd, left, of Foremost Groups, a Home Depot vendor, blasts the mud off the shoes of John Prentice, a Home Depot store manager in North Fayette, after Mr. Prentice had finished his landscaping work at the Southwestern Veterans Center on Highland Drive in Lincoln-Lemington on Wednesday.
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In an extension of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's volunteerism program, the Home Depot Foundation and community groups are coming together to upgrade about 70 homes belonging to veterans, senior citizens and low-income residents.
The new project -- called the Sustainable Home Improvement Partnership -- will focus on homes in East Liberty, Garfield, Homewood and Larimer.
The foundation is providing a $500,000 grant for labor and materials, but some of the heavy lifting will be done by volunteers in Mr. Ravenstahl's ServePGH program. The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority and community groups -- Nazareth Housing Services, Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh and Three Rivers Center for Independent Living, among others -- also will lend a hand.
"We're excited to be partnering with the Home Depot Foundation, yet again, to improve the quality of life for our city's most vulnerable residents," Mr. Ravenstahl said.
The foundation previously provided $10,000 for Love Your Block, a ServePGH initiative that has given face-lifts to 11 city blocks to far.
"The cornerstone of our lives is usually the place we call home, where we gather with our families and friends, and we are proud that our grant funding and the volunteer efforts of our associates will help the Sustainable Home Improvement Partnership to repair and refurbish homes for those who are most in need of help," Kelly Caffarelli, foundation president, said.
The work will include electrical and plumbing upgrades, structural repairs, construction of wheelchair ramps, weatherization and security improvements.
In all, 10 community and service groups will participate in the project, partly by selecting the property owners who will be helped. The groups already provide housing-related services to disadvantaged residents.
"The waiting lists for services from our partner agencies are extensive, and this opportunity will enable them to make needed repairs to those who have previously sought their services," Rebecca Delphia, the city's chief service officer, said in an email. In addition, she said, the foundation money will give the groups, which often rely on government funding, more flexibility in choosing program participants.
The project is "the first ever formal partnership among so many home-repair and homeowner-support agencies in our region," Ms. Delphia said, predicting increased efficiency in delivery of services.
First Published October 13, 2011 12:00 am
