By Marc Takacs and Nancy Carpenter
In 2015, Neighbor in Need East Atlanta helped senior homeowners in nine homes receive more than $19,000 in home repairs. This program does emergency repairs for senior homeowners in East Atlanta Village in an effort to keep them in safe and functional homes. This helps the entire community by preventing blighted properties and boosting the neighborhood’s level of diversity and historic context.
While it is an initiative of the East Atlanta Community Association (EACA), it is solely funded through fundraising and grants specifically geared toward the program. In addition to a large number of EAV residents donating directly via PayPal at eaca.net, the group raised funds via several poker tournaments, selling raffle tickets full of goodies donated by local businesses at neighborhood events and grants from the East Atlanta Foundation, East Atlanta Santa and other philanthropic groups. It was also the primary beneficiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Georgia’s annual silent auction. The group raised more than $28,000 this year but just a few new roofs and HVAC systems will deplete funds quickly.
The contractors that Neighbor in Need partner with are the best in the industry and the organization could not do this without them. Fantastic companies like Bell Roofing, Tom Bunch HVAC (who donated a whole new system to one recipient), M. Cary and Daughters Plumbing, Gate City Construction, Thomas Babineau Builders, and Home Repair Ministries are among the top partners and should be on the short list for any homeowner needing those services. The group is always on the lookout for construction companies with a servant’s heart to partner with on projects.
Some of the goals for 2016 are to continue to provide this necessary service to the community but also streamline and simplify the process, especially in dealing with contractors. This will require additional volunteers who are committed to performing the small tasks that add up to a huge benefit to the families served. Improvements to the documentation of the process and requirements and more effectively communicating them to the community at large are high on this list. This will allow the community to better recognize opportunities to refer their neighbors who may need the service and allow the organization to address them quickly in an effort to keep the elderly in the community safe and comfortable in their homes. This also will allow Neighbor in Need to assist groups in other communities around the state who have asked for assistance in setting up similar programs. The East Atlanta organization has been contacted by groups from Athens to Valdosta who recognize similar needs in their communities and want to know how they can implement the program.
2016 is also a year of transition for Neighbor in Need as the longtime leader, Jeffrey Whitehouse, transitions out of the program and Nancy Carpenter and Marc Takacs take over as co-chairs. For more information or to donate, go to eaca.net and look under the initiative tab for Neighbor in Need or find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NeighborInNeedEAV/. If you have further questions or want to volunteer, please email Marc or Nancy at neighborinneed@eaca.net, or call Marc Takacs at (404) 538-6849 or Nancy Carpenter at (404) 376-7381.
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