William and Michelle Evans have lived in their beautiful brick home in Grandmont Rosedale since 1988. Like any home, though, time and weather had taken its toll. William learned about GRDC’s Home Repair Program at the annual Grandmont Rosedale Neighborhood Open House. Designed for qualified homeowners in certain targeted areas of Grandmont Rosedale, GRDC’s Home Repair Program provides grants and loans to homeowners to make needed repairs to their homes. William had a leaky roof, an outdated furnace, the front and back porches needed repairs, and he needed a new electric service panel and security doors. After William was accepted into the Home Repair Program, a lead test determined that his home needed new windows as well. The repairs were completed over to course of a few weeks last summer and William is more than satisfied with the work and the professionalism of the crew. Home Repair Program Manager Tom Ridgway was particularly helpful throughout the process: “Tom really helped me out. If I called with questions, he was right there to help me out.” “I was thinking about doing everything myself,” William, a retired General Dynamics employee admits, “but both me and my wife are glad I didn’t.”
William and Michelle are great examples of neighbors who make Grandmont Rosedale a great place to live. Next door to their home is a vacant lot which William mows throughout the summer and fall. He checks every day to be sure there is no litter, and indeed the vacant lot looks like a well-tended park. It is this cooperative spirit GRDC enjoys with Grandmont Rosedale residents that is one of the foundations of our mission: “to assist local homeowners” and to “beautify our community and keep our neighborhoods safe and vibrant.”