Program Profile: Housing Improvements makes homes livable
“Housing is always vulnerable to the elements,” says SNAP’s Director of Housing Services, Chris Davis. “Some home repairs are essential and can make a home habitable again. But we take care of the essentials – that’s what we do.”
SNAP’s Housing Improvements provides a variety of home repair services to Spokane County neighbors. Last year alone, this team completed 715 home repairs and weatherized 191 homes for energy efficiency. Chris Davis has led this department for 17 years – through a recession, multiple windstorms, economic downturns, and now a global pandemic.
Davis has overseen multiple economic shifts, which impacted the level of need or available funding.
When Davis first came to SNAP in 2004, he was a licensed architect who had been working full-time in architecture and wanted to make a change.
“Through a meandering path, I ended up working at the Community Colleges of Spokane with refugees in the ESL program,” says Davis. “This was quite a big jump, but I realized I really liked people projects more than construction projects.”
That’s how he arrived at SNAP in a position allowed him to realize he could apply both his architecture and social service backgrounds.
The first challenge he faced when he arrived at SNAP was creating stability and gaining the trust of a team who just endured a rough patch of downsizing. His longevity at SNAP speaks for his resolution to this first challenge – as does the fact that at least ten of the 30+ staff in the department when Davis started are still on the team.
The next major challenge was the economic collapse of 2008. The Federal government put significant stimulus funding into the economy, leading the Weatherization program to grow enormously.
“We suddenly needed to ramp up and hire people, train people, do more work, and help more people who were really suffering through that difficult time,” says Davis. “I am really proud of how we grew and how successful we were.”
Throughout the next several years that Davis describes as a “calm or smooth period,” the department continued its impact of making homes more habitable by adding a new program: Single Family Rehab (SFR). Unlike other Housing Improvement programs, SFR provides home repairs through low-interest loans rather than grants to allow for bigger or more costly projects. Then the pandemic hit, leaving Davis and the Housing Improvements team to do what they’ve always done: adapt and persevere.
“Our crew redoubled their safety efforts,” says Kelly Shepherd, SNAP’s Home Repair Coordinator. “The majority of the clients were very amicable to masking or distancing while our fully-protected crew members went into their homes and took care of the things that needed to be taken care of.”
While Davis had nearly two decades of experience at SNAP under his belt when the pandemic struck, Shepherd was still fairly green. She transitioned into this role less than two years before the pandemic began. However, a solid team of SNAP staff members and well-established infrastructure allowed Shepherd to provide clients with services even during a global pandemic.
“The rapport and reputation that we have with our funders and vendors and contractors was already there,” says Shepherd. “So it was kind of easy to step in and just say ‘hey, I’m the new person; this is my role.’”
Davis explains that because more people have been home more than ever expected during the pandemic, their home’s existing problems become increasingly untenable. Basic needs become emergencies.
Shepherd recalls a call she received last summer from a 99-year-old client, Frankie*. This client desperately needed water, especially at a time when sanitation and hygiene were more essential than ever.
“They had been using the neighbor’s hose for two weeks and didn’t have running water,” says Shepherd. “Finally someone called and said Frankie needed help.”
The home repair crew discovered that the well pump had gone bad. It can cost upwards of $6,000 to replace a well pump, but SNAP had already maxed out on all of the current funding sources for this client. Shepherd and her team understood how critical it was that Frankie have access to running water, so they got creative.
“We had six different funding sources. We got them to raise the limit or make an exception in this case,” says Shepherd. “We were able to come up with the $6,000 ballpark and got Frankie’s water returned within a week.”
What Shepherd and her team did for Frankie is emblematic of the empathy, ingenuity, and tenacity that SNAP Housing Improvements has exhibited for decades.
“The average client who reaches out to us has done so because something has failed. A client has been deprived of a basic need,” says Shepherd. “I love that SNAP is able to give people their dignity, even though inside they’re cringing because they want to be able to do these things on their own.”
Davis explains that Housing Improvements has been completing roughly 20 Weatherization projects per month, and over 30 home repair projects each month – and clients are incredibly thankful. Making client homes more affordable, comfortable, and safe has resulted in an inundation of gratitude. Shepherd describes thank you cards and notes that clients frequently send to Housing Improvements. In fact, the building that hosts Housing Improvements has an entire wall covered in notes from clients expressing how much SNAP’s repairs improved their lives.
“Let’s not forget, our donors make all of this possible,” Davis says. “Donations can be used in flexible ways to help clients who don’t fit the standard program requirements.”
* Name changed to preserve confidentiality.