Pastor Crawford

Pastor Wanda Crawford’s parents bought their house in Chicago’s West Englewood neighborhood in the 1960s. In 2001, Pastor Crawford returned home to care for her mother. Today, Pastor Crawford still shares the home with her mother, now aged 96.

“You don’t feel alone,” the pastor says about her many long-time neighbors. “You can knock on their doors, and people help each other.”

Like most old homes, the Crawfords’ house needed a lot of work. That’s why they called H.O.M.E. In response, our Repair Specialist Nate Foggs made safety modifications and plumbing repairs, mended broken cabinets, removed nails sticking out from the floor, and fixed a drain at the back door where water would back up and freeze in the winter. He even found the home’s long-buried water shut-off valve, which five other contractors had not been able to locate.

According to Pastor Crawford, Nate made the house “not only livable but comfortable and safe.”

H.O.M.E.’s Upkeep & Repair Program, like all our work, emphasizes deep human connection with those we serve. According to Nate, helping older homeowners “is more than a job. It’s a passion.” In delivering our services, we also provide those we help – low-income seniors who often have little contact to others – with deep compassion and respect.

H.O.M.E.’s work also impacts communities. For example, in West Englewood and its nearby neighborhoods – mostly Black communities greatly impacted by disinvestment and poverty – more than 40% of homeowners are seniors. When we repair houses in these or other South and West Side neighborhoods, we help strengthen communities.