Housing

When Pearl Baldwin purchased her house in Syracuse, she looked forward to a safe, comfortable place to live with her grandson. She never imagined that her new home could pose a risk to their lives.

On the surface, the house appeared normal; however, over time, Pearl began to uncover dangerous features, causing her great concern.

During the cold months, her roof leaked onto the sidewalk causing a slippery walkway. The foundation began to deteriorate, allowing rodents to come into her home. Pearl tried her best to keep everything protected and clean for the safety of her 13-year-old grandson, but realized she was spending a lot of time, money and energy trying to make repairs.

Nearly six million households live with moderate to severe home health and safety hazards, which place them at risk for illness and injuries including asthma, lead poisoning, slips and falls, and respiratory illnesses. An unhealthy home can affect many aspects of a person’s life, leading to health care needs, absentee work days and children missing school. 

Pearl’s wishes for a safe home came true when she learned about the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative Greater Syracuse (GHHIGS) [link: https://www.homehq.org/ghhi/], a collaborative effort that helps to improve the health, safety and energy efficiency of low- and moderate-income homes in the City of Syracuse. The hazardous condition of Pearl’s home made her a suitable candidate to receive assistance.

GHHIGS community partners worked to completely replace and properly seal the foundation and siding on her house, ensuring no unwanted animals could enter. Workers also installed a new roof and protected power lines to eliminate any faulty or dangerous wires. Pearl’s home also received new storm doors.

Nearing age 50 with two grown boys, Denise Welch was perfectly content renting an apartment. The boys were out of the house and she was comfortable with never owning her own home. That all changed when her landlord informed her that rent would be increasing to the going market rate and they were not renewing existing leases. She quickly moved into another apartment, for which she was forced to pay more than $1,000 per month.

“Rents everywhere were high and I just thought, this isn’t going to work for me,” she said.

One month after she moved into her new apartment, she secured a realtor who told her to contact Home HeadQuarters (HHQ). She enrolled in a HomeBuyer Education Course, signed up for a First Home Club at a local credit union and was ready to enter the housing market.

“Well, the first thing I learned was to slow down,” Denise says with a laugh. “Then I learned so much about things to look for when shopping for a home. Like radon; I turned down house after house because of radon.”

Now, even Denise can’t believe that, in less than a year, she owns a fully-rehabilitated four bedroom home with a big yard and a front porch that her mother enjoys. The house was once vacant, serving as an eyesore in the Southside neighborhood. HHQ redeveloped the property to make it a safe, comfortable and attractive place to live.

Denise’s impeccably decorated house has won the approval of her sisters and all who visit. She has even secured a home improvement loan through HHQ to add a white fence, new driveway, and replace her sidewalks.

“The mortgage and the home improvement loan together are less than I would be paying in rent,” she says. “With this home, I am just in a place right now of never-ending joy.”

HHQ provides low-interest home improvement loans and grants, first mortgage financing and closing cost assistance, homeowner education and counseling, foreclosure prevention and real estate property development throughout Central New York.