Habitat for Humanity Greater Cincinnati is proud to partner with veterans and their families to provide critical home repairs so they can remain safe and stable in their homes. Habitat serves active-duty military members, veterans, and surviving spouses of veterans who have been honorably or generally discharged from all branches of the military. Thanks to a generous grant from the Disabled Veterans National Foundation, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati will be able to partner with more veteran families to complete critical home repairs. With this grant, more veteran families and aging residents will remain safely in their homes and communities of support.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition finds that 2.5 million veterans heading households are at least 55 years of age. Of those 2.5 million veterans, 24% have housing cost burdens. These veterans are also more likely to have a disability which may require a home modification or health and supportive services as they age.
Habitat recently partnered with Paul to repair his roof and gutters. Paul first moved into his house in 1965 after serving for two years in the US Army. He was in the 34th Armor at Fort Knox. “I spent the whole two years down there,” Paul said. “I got lucky.” Paul has been retired since 1991 from GM, where he worked as an assembler. “I loved it, you were doing something different every day.”
Paul grew up in the very neighborhood that he still lives in today. It’s also the same neighborhood where he met his wife of 62 years. “We played softball and went swimming in the ponds,” Paul said. “Next thing you know we just started dating.”
Paul called Habitat for Humanity because he needed a new roof and gutters. He heard about our Veteran Repairs Program through his sister. She also got a new roof and gutters through our Repairs Programs. His sister told him to give us a call, and Paul says he’s so thankful he did.
Paul says his “gutters had pinholes all the way through here and when it rained real hard, from one end to the other you could see the water just dripping out of the bottom of the gutters.” He describes having leaks inside too that would come down the wall and pool in his basement. So, our repairs team tore off his old shingles and gutters and replaced them with new ones. “They really did a good job. It’s been really good,” said Paul. “I didn’t know how I was going to get a new roof and gutters put on.” Paul has no plans to leave his house or neighborhood that means so much to him. He’s grateful he gets to stay in his home. “I’ll probably die right here.”
To hear Paul’s full story, visit our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/3IBa3EeBbZQ?si=8iYXNcmmC6b-cNXU