May 16, 2016 – We sat down with HouseProud Executive Director, Lisa Jones to discuss what the Impact10 Grant means to her and the community she works in.
HouseProud was originally a part of the Tool Bank of Atlanta. When did it become its own 501(c)3?
The ToolBank was started back in 1991. An amazing gentleman named Jeff Woodward began doing home repairs at no cost for seniors in southwest Atlanta. He saw a need and decided to do something about it. It started as a small group of friends, but quickly turned into something bigger, mainly because people started to give him tools to do the work. After he had a number of tools, he began to store them and allow people to borrow them for repairs. And that’s how the ToolBank started.
The ToolBank was looking to replicate in other cities and needed a clean model to do so. HouseProud didn’t really fit anymore and we were already growing and beginning to function separately anyway. In 2008, we brought in consultants to see what the right decision was for us – should we fold into another nonprofit or start our own 501c3? After meeting with numerous people and stakeholders, HouseProud became its own official organization in January of 2012.
How is HouseProud different from other organizations that help seniors with home repairs?
HouseProud is unique in that it is the only nonprofit headquartered in, and serving only, southwest Atlanta. We also work within the communities, meaning we attend community meetings and stay invested in the future and people of the area we serve.
Jabian’s Impact10 Grant was donated to buy a trailer and truck for HouseProud? How long has that been on the wish list?
Almost ten years! We work in impoverished areas where theft can be prevalent so security of our tools has always been an issue. It was something we started thinking more seriously about after we moved into our current location which has more security with a fenced in lot (we’d had our first donated truck stolen…). Kelli Allred, an employee of Jabian’s, is a member of our board so when she came to us and said, “What could you do with $10,000?” we immediately knew what we could use it for!
How will the trailer be impactful to HouseProud’s mission?
Right now we rely on volunteers and contractors’ trucks to bring items from the HouseProud HQ to the build sites. A lot of times, you don’t know what you’re really going to need until you get into the project. If you have the wrong tool or sized nail, it’s a huge inconvenience to run back to the warehouse while making sure that someone is watching the open trailer so that nothing gets stolen. With an enclosed trailer, we can outfit it with any and all tools we could possibly need so there won’t be any running back and forth. We’ll save so much on gas too! Because we can lock it, we will no longer have to worry about security as much. In addition to the time saving and security during the project, it will save an enormous amount of set up time. For projects, volunteers have to arrive early to pack the trailer and then at the end of the day, unpack it. That’s a lot of unnecessary time that could be spent helping our seniors.
The Impact10 Grant is also helping you to buy a work truck, correct?
That’s right! We’re finally going to have our own truck and not have to rely on volunteers and contractors. I’ve destroyed two of my personal cars through all of the hauling of lumber and concrete, and I’d do it again! But it will be wonderful to have our own truck that we can use specifically for hauling heavy things. We’ve only had one truck in our history before that was donated (and stolen), and have not invested in a new one because we didn’t want to invest in a closed trailer that is contingent on someone else’s truck. We didn’t want to dip into operating reserves, but with the Impact10 grant, we’ll be able to finally get what we need!
So what’s next on the wish list?
A good quality color printer! I know that doesn’t sound as cool as a trailer, but it’s something that could really help us as we continue to grow. Thanks to Lauren Abraham Mahoney and Kelli Allred (both from Jabian), we put a strategic plan together for the next five years that will help HouseProud to grow. We want to be able to do more within our area before we would ever consider moving into other areas of the city. We currently serve 20 neighborhoods, and with the new Falcons stadium going up and property value increasing in these areas, we’re trying to help current residents stay in their homes by staying up to code so they don’t have to leave their homes. Our max cost repairs right now are $5,000, but we’d like to get to the point where we can be putting $20,000 into homes so we’re not just putting Band-Aids on homes but making them last for the next generation.