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A gift of money, materials and paid labor from Lowe's is helping Charlotte's Habitat for Humanity complete nearly half the 24 projects on this year's waiting list for critical home repairs.
The Mooresville-based chain of home improvement stores has pledged to lend 130 of its employees to do 10 of the projects, along with $76,500 in cash and construction materials.
Habitat officials say the gift marks a first for the three-year-old Critical Home Repair Program, which provides badly needed home repairs for low-income seniors and people with disabilities.
Among the 10 homeowners being helped is Joann Crump, 76, of the NoDa community, who put up a banner on her porch this week, thanking God for Lowe's and Habitat. Nearly a dozen Lowe's employees have been working two weeks to replace a leaking roof on her 83-year-old home, which had four layers of asphalt shingles over the original covering of cedar shake shingles.
"I had to do something to let them know how I feel in my heart about what they're doing," said Crump, a great-grandmother who has lived in the two-bedroom home for 40 years. "Maybe I can live here now a little longer, 10 or 20 more years."
Thanks to the gift, Habitat for Humanity officials say they may do more home repair jobs than planned this year. It's estimated 5,000 of the city's homeowners are living at the poverty level and can't afford critical repairs needed to meet city codes. Habitat's Critical Home Repair Program completed 15 projects last year, most of which involved replacing leaking roofs and rotted bathroom floors. In some cases, homes were close to be condemned when Habitat stepped in.
"We could end up doing double what we did last year," said Tim O'Neil, director of the Critical Home Repair Program. "It's going to make this a better, faster, stronger program in the end."
What impresses him even more is that the initiative is employee driven. The Lowe's Heroes program typically gives each store about $1,200 to spend on individual community projects, which employees volunteer to do on their on time. However, in this case, employees decided to try something new by pooling their money for one big effort, said Steve Kirby, a district manager for the southside stores. He coordinated the project with Lynn Lyons, the northside district manager.
Another big difference: Lowe's decided to pay employees to do the work.
"The employees wanted to have a bigger impact in making a difference," said Kirby, who has helped with repairs on two of the homes done in recent weeks. "After going out and meeting some of the people, and seeing the challenges they face, it feels wonderful to be part of the solution."
In all, Lowe's expects staffers from 21 stores do help do the repairs, which began in September and should be completed by Dec. 1. However, several have volunteered to come back and work on their days off, including Grayson Crawford, 25, a department manager at the Lowe's in University City.
"When Ms. Crump made her signs, it almost brought folks to tears," Crawford said this week, as he helped put a roof on a home in the Hidden Valley neighborhood. "I'm on my third roof in the last two weeks I can't think of any place I'd rather be."
