SJHP lends a hand

SAINT AUGUSTINE – Mrs. Israel is a life-long resident of St. Augustine. The 72-year-old widow was employed with the SJC School District for 20+ years working in the transportation department and then the cafeteria at St. Augustine High until her retirement.

 Earlier this year she lost her husband of 56 years, Pastor Eugene Israel, Jr. It was after his passing that family members discovered her home was in need of repair. Soft spots in her flooring had been a complaint so her son Michael reached out to us about any programs that she could benefit from. With the help of family members guiding her through the application process, SJHP qualified her for SHIP and got to work.

 Turns out the floor joists throughout the home had termite damage and most of the subflooring was rotted. Room by room, our rehab crew replaced it all! Mrs. Israel, who uses a cane, also had difficulty accessing her tub. We replaced it with a walk-in shower and gave her a comfort-height toilet as well. Her roof was original to the construction of the home so we replaced that too. We wrapped up her much needed repairs using funds from Weatherization and a grant from the Buckingham Smith Benevolent Association.

 

Said her son Michael, “my mom is very thankful for all the hard work put forth by SJHP and the SHIP program in making her home a safe, livable, and comfortable place to stay.” 
St. Johns Housing Partnership (SJHP) was created with the mission of reducing sub-standard housing for low-income homeowners. For over 20 years, SJHP has worked on creating public and private partnerships to help improve housing conditions for low-income homeowners in St Johns County. One such partnership is with the State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program (SHIP) through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation which is administered by the St. Johns County Health and Human Services. Through this program, income-qualified homeowners can receive up to $40,000.00 in home repairs.

For more information about SJHP and it’s programs, please visit our website, sjhp.o. If you would like to help support neighbors like Mrs. Israel, please make a donation today.