Ramps & Roofs:An Appeal for Help
In many Central Appalachian counties, 30 percent is an important number:
- it represents, in round figures, both the poverty rate and the disability rate.
- Compared to the rest of the US with a 12.6 percent poverty rate,
and 18 percent disability rate, these statistics in Appalachia are staggering(1).
- Most interestingly, home ownership rates in these same counties hover near 80%, well above the US average!
What might seem to be statistically unlikely actually underscores a harsh reality:
There are many people in Central Appalachia who live in substandard housing, and lack either the resources or
the physical ability to live safely in their homes.
Our Response:
-
For over twenty years, MCC Great Lakes’ Sharing With Appalachian People (SWAP) program
has been working to address substandard housing in Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia.
- Over 10, 000 people have been involved with this “serve and learn” home repair ministry, and we
expect a record number of volunteer workers again this year.
-
However, volunteer labor is only
half of the equation; it takes thousands of dollars in building materials to effectively
address home repair needs in our ministry areas.
That is why we are working diligently to generate additional building material resources.
1Current Population Survey (CPS), 2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC), US Census Bureau.
