In 2002, we bought our first home, a small structure built in 1897 in north Springfield’s Woodland Heights neighborhood. We love our neighborhood, and our little home, but it didn’t take long for us to realize that several previous updates on the home needed to be redone.
Specifically, we encountered several issues with the roof, resulting in significant leaks in the bathroom and laundry area – and then we learned that it can be difficult to borrow funds for a new roof on a very old home, particularly when estimates for repairs come in in the $15,000-to-$18,000 mark. We tried many different avenues, but because of our income and our current debt load, we could not figure out a way to get our roof repaired. So, we lived with it.
Fast forward to 2015. By this time, the roof still leaked, much of our guttering, particularly over the porch, was mangled, and that made for wet, slippery steps anytime we got rain or snow. The front porch was bowing under the weight of months of water, and eventually, our mail carrier asked that we move the mailbox down from the porch because he didn’t want to go up under the bowing roof. We moved it, and my husband put a wooden pole up under the porch to help hold it up as best as he could. And then, we got the letter. It was a letter from the City’s Building Development Services department, noting that with our drooping porch, the house wasn’t up to code, and we had a deadline to get it fixed.
Drew Gateley, a BDS inspector, came out to talk to my husband Byron about the needed repairs, and Byron explained that we had tried lots of different avenues for roof repairs. Gateley encouraged us to keep trying. He also asked a lot of questions about our situation, and upon learning that we both work but that Byron is only able to work part-time due to a physical disability, he said, “We have some programs – let me see if I can figure out a way to help.”
[pullquote]We weren’t very optimistic, and at one point, I even briefly thought about letting the house go to foreclosure. It didn’t meet code and needed repairs and we couldn’t find a lender to help us get that done. But Gateley assured us that as long as we kept working on a solution and remained in communication with BDS, they would work with us and we wouldn’t be fined or run into other hurdles with the City.[/pullquote]
Gateley put us in touch with Cheri Hagler, a loan technician with the City’s Planning & Development department, and she sent us a loan application form for the city’s Roof Replacement Program. The first time we filled it out, we were denied.
But she looked again at our info and said, “There has to be a way we can make this work.” She helped us go through our financial papers again, making sure that we counted all of our medical debts and everything else, and she ran the application again. This time, we were approved. She called and told us it would be a long process, but if we were patient, we would get the needed repairs.
When we finally got called to go sign paperwork for our new roof, I admit I was still skeptical. An inspection had revealed that the entire roof needed to be completely stripped off and replaced, with new guttering and some repairs on the porch. We were approved for a zero-interest loan through a City program that covered the needed repairs, and while we have the option to make payments on it, we aren’t required to do so, because it will be repaid at such time as we sell our home. On the day that we signed the paperwork, I think I asked three times, “What’s the catch?” but there wasn’t one.
We thanked Hagler for working with us to find a solution, and she said it was her pleasure, because although it is important for the City to enforce the codes that exist for safety, it doesn’t do a lot of good to enforce them without helping people figure out how to get the repairs they needed.
In early 2016 we met with Nimmo Construction and chose some pretty red shingles for our new roof. They started working in early April, and in less than a week, we had a new roof.
I never thought that our prayers for a solution to our leaky roof would be answered by a code violation letter from the City of Springfield, but that is exactly what happened.
Editor’s Note: The Roof Replacement Program was a precursor to what is now the Homeowner Emergency Loan Program (HELP). HELP provides resources and financing for critical home repairs to owner-occupied residents. The program is centered around a partnership of non-profit housing agencies to leverage supporting programs and resources.
About HELP
The Homeowner Emergency Loan Program (HELP) targets low to moderate income owner‐occupied residential dwellings, located within the CDBG-eligible boundaries of the City of Springfield, with consultation and funding assistance toward making critical home repairs. Critical home repairs include those which pose an imminent threat to the home and inhabitants. These repairs are intended to stabilize, preserve and promote homeownership by reducing or preventing damage from weather or infestation, and where possible, increase energy efficiency.
Additionally, these repairs are intended to target and reduce individual property blight, improve the immediate neighborhood surrounding the home and increase the quality of the City’s overall housing stock.
HELP may provide direct funding for improvements in the form of forgivable loans or referrals to partner agencies for alternative assistance opportunities. HELP is a partnership among the City of Springfield, Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri, Council of Churches of the Ozarks Connections Handyman Service, Habitat for Humanity and Ozarks Area Community Action Corporation (OACAC). Funding is made possible by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG).
Eligible repairs include:
- Roofs, roof decking, structural framing, soffit, fascia, siding and gutter repair/replacement.
- Windows, doors, knobs/locks, porch handrails, steps, and decking repair/replacement.
- Water service lines and sewer lateral repair/replacement.
- Exterior lighting, tree removal and trimming.
- Improvements to increase energy efficiency and related general weatherization work.
- Installation of ramps and improvements to increase and improve accessibility and safety.
- Improvements necessary to increase the insurability of owner‐occupied homes.
All proposed work and assistance is evaluated against the potential life of the home.
For more information about HELP, please contact the City of Springfield – Office of Neighborhoods and Planning, Affordable Housing Office at 864‐1053 or 864‐1031.