Home Repair Ministry
Through work crews which give over 50,000 hours each year, our Home Repair Ministry provides free home repairs for homeowners who are elderly, poor, shut-in, widowed, disabled, or immobile. Most live in substandard conditions, and many are cited for building code violations, facing the possibility of eviction if repairs are not completed. Projects include exterior and interior painting, repairing damaged walls and ceilings, hanging drywall, installing new toilets, constructing wheelchair ramps, clearing debris, repointing loose bricks, fortifying retaining walls, replacing doors, floors, and windows, patching holes on rooftops, and many other smaller jobs. Our crews repair over 150 homes each year in neighborhoods throughout the city, as well as in neighboring urban boroughs.
Our work crews are not professional contractors. They are made up of young people and adult leaders who pay their own money to participate in our Service Camps. Most crew members are teenagers or college students. Sometimes the adults are pastors or teachers; sometimes they are volunteers who enjoy helping young people learn to serve and grow in their faith. Nevertheless, we aim to do good quality work. Our staff members travel from worksite to worksite to deliver supplies, to encourage the team, to help build bridges of friendship among the crew members and homeowner, and to offer technical assistance to the crews.
QUALIFICATIONS You must meet all three of the following qualifications:
- You must own your home and live in it.
- You must live in the City of Pittsburgh or in certain neighboring boroughs.
- You must document that your household’s income was at or below 150 percent of the 2010 Federal Poverty Guidelines for the previous 12 months.
Among the applicants who meet these requirements, we place a priority on candidates who exhibit poor health due to disability or illness, and/or are age 60 and older. We are not able to help everyone who applies.
APPLICATION PROCESS Please note that you may submit your application at any time. However, any applications we receive after February 28 will be reviewed between October and February, for consideration the following summer.
You may download and print a Home Repair Ministry Application in PDF, or request that one be sent to you at our Contact Us page. For reference, you may wish to view the information on this page in PDF through our Home Repair Ministry brochure. If you have questions, please contact Lauren Albert, Homeowner Services Associate.
Homeowner Care
Our Homeowner Care program provides ongoing visitation and care to shut-ins and those with limiting disabilities, beyond the scope of our Home Repair Ministry. Our staff members, along with dedicated volunteers, visit, talk, and pray with our most lonely, isolated neighbors, connecting them to the greater network of social service agencies and churches in their neighborhoods.