for those who can't afford the work

Staff Writer

LOCKHART - Carolyn Rash's home is getting some much-needed repairs, thanks to a Gaffney-based group that rehabilitates homes for the financially disadvantaged.

Farley Construction/Budget Roofing of Gaffney is doing roofing and other work on Mrs. Rash's home at 118 South Fifth St. The work is being paid for by Home Rehabilitation of Cherokee County. The rehabilitation of the house is the first project undertaken by Home Rehabilitation in Union County.

Mrs. Rash said she's thankful for their efforts, because she couldn't afford to make the improvements herself.

“They're going to replace my roof, and they're going to put a new ceiling in my bathroom and replace the ceiling in the back room,” she said. “I think what they're doing is great. I live by myself, I'm on a fixed income and I can't afford to have this done myself. Whatever they do, they don't know how much I appreciate it.”

Organized as a non-profit corporation in March 2003, Home Rehabilitation has fixed up 30 homes in Cherokee County over the last three years. The members of its governing board are all volunteers but the work is done by professional contractors like Budget Roofing. The work is financed with grants obtained from the S.C. Housing Trust which also inspects the projects, along with local building inspectors.

“We rehabilitate homes that are in a bad state of repair but the owners are just not financially able to make the necessary repairs to make it a livable home,” board member Oscar Fuller said. “The roof might be leaking, floors rotted in, things of this nature.”

Fuller said Home Rehabilitation grew out of the Habitat for Humanity program in Cherokee County. While Habitat builds new homes, Fuller said it does not rehabilitate existing ones. He said there was a need for home rehabilitation in Cherokee County and his group was formed to address that need.

All the projects undertaken by Home Rehabilitation have been in Cherokee County. The S.C. Housing Trust, however, said it would finance the work on Mrs. Rash's house if Home Rehabilitation's board approved the project.

Mrs. Rash said her friend, Tim Black, had contacted Fuller about the group rehabilitating her house.

“If it wasn't for Tim Black, I wouldn't be having this done,” she said. “He has helped me a lot.”

Mrs. Rash said that anyone in a situation similar to her's should contact Home Rehabilitation of Cherokee County. Fuller, however, said that while his group is happy to help out in any way they can, they want Union County to have its own home rehabilitation group. He said he would like to meet with any and all persons interested in setting up such a group to brief them on the process.

“There is a great need for this in Union County because you have a high rate of unemployment and your situation may be as equally bad as it was in Cherokee County at the time,” he said. “My thought is that anyone who has a desire to help the less fortunate, if they would be willing to meet with us at a luncheon or during evening time, I would personally underwrite the expense of that, up to maybe 25 or 30 people.

“I will have a representative of the S.C. Housing Trust to come,” he said. “I will bring along all the paperwork that I did, because it's long and tedious but I can shorten the process since I know a little bit about how to do it. I'm willing to do all this if there is an interest here in Union County to start this.”

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Persons interested in setting up a Home Rehabilitation group in Union County may call Oscar Fuller at 864-489-9483.