Community Comes together to Provide Home Repairs to East Austin Residents

For Immediate Release
October 16, 2003
Contact: Julie Beggs, (512) 974-3121/voice or (512) 802-7108/pager

Austin, TX: On Saturday, October 18, 2003, community and church groups will come together to participate in the 5th annual Raise the Roof event. The event partners over 450 volunteers with homeowners in the Govalle/Johnston Terrace Neighborhood. Raise the Roof is a community-oriented project in which volunteers, along with skilled contractors, repair homes for low-to-moderate income homeowners, including the elderly and disabled.

According to the 2000 US Census Bureau, 270 families the Govalle/Johnston Terrace Neighborhood live below the poverty level; 212 of these families have children less than 18 years of age. Another 300 homes in the area had a grandparent living in the home--10 percent of those households have a grandparent responsible for caring for grandchildren. During the reporting period, the median household income for the area was $26,463 compared to $66,900 for that of Austin/Travis County.

Some of the activities included in this year's event include interior and exterior painting, roof repairs, drywall and flooring repairs for eligible recipients.

"Raise the Roof is more than just an event in Austin, it's a time when we discover two important things about our city: first, we see first hand the tremendous need that our community has for improving the quality of housing stock in Austin and, more importantly, we see how many people can be helped when the community comes together," said Paul Hilgers, City of Austin Community Development Officer.

Sponsors of the event include the City of Austin's Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Office; the Austin Housing Finance Corporation; Hand on Housing, a division of Austin Area Interreligious Ministries; Keep Austin Beautiful; Southwest Housing; the City of Austin Neighborhood Planning and Zoning Department; and, Solid Waste Services.

The Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Office's mission is to provide housing, community development, and small business development services to benefit residents so they can have access to livable neighborhoods and increase their opportunities for self-sufficiency.

The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Please call 974-3100 (voice) or 974-3102 (TDD) for assistance. This project is made possible by funding from HUD through the City of Austin.

CONTACT: Julie Beggs, (512) 974-3121/voice or (512) 802-7108/pager