LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Habitat for Humanity Lake County has received another sizable grant from the Home Depot Foundation to support making home repairs for local veterans.
Richard Birk, president of Habitat for Humanity Lake County, said his organization will receive about $200,000 for its military veterans' home repair program.
Birk recently met with Home Depot Foundation Director Heather Pritchard in Atlanta to discuss the grant's particulars.
This is the third grant that Habitat for Humanity Lake County has received from the Home Depot Foundation Veterans Home Repair Initiative.
Birk estimated that, over the last three years, the Home Depot Foundation's grants to help local veterans have totaled about $450,000.
Last year, he said his group received $150,000, but the grant funds were extended to more than $200,000 as they successfully completed 15 projects.
“We're spending quite a bit on each home,” said Birk, estimating that the cost of the projects averaged about $15,000.
Birk said the repairs have included new roofs, wheelchair ramps, bathroom upgrades such as walk-in showers, replacing heating and cooling systems with more efficient models, electrical work and a variety of other needed repairs.
Unless it's a simple repair job or a roof replacement, Habitat for Humanity farms the work out to a contractor, Birk said.
Now, he said Habitat for Humanity is taking applications immediately in order to be able to use the funds up within the short, eight-month window that's part of the grant requirements.
“We just want to move as fast as we can to help as many as we can,” Birk said.
Veterans must be income-qualified and own their own home, or live with a family member who owns their home, Birk said.
For those veterans who aren't sure that they qualify, Birk urged them to apply and let the Habitat for Humanity staff determine whether or not they are eligible for assistance.
For more information about its programs, call the Habitat for Humanity Lake County office at 707 994-1100.
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