While Verde Valley Habitat for Humanity is perhaps best known for building homes, it also works to keep people in their homes.
“That’s where our Critical Home Repair Program comes in. We build ramps so a veteran in a wheelchair can get to his front door,” VVHFH wrote June 14 on Facebook. “We install grab bars so a widow can shower without fear of falling. We fix dangerous wiring and replace crumbling flooring. We show up — because safety and dignity shouldn’t depend on a fixed income.”
In collaboration with the city of Sedona, VVHFH has $400,000 earmarked for home repairs to assist low- to moderate-income homeowners within the city limits through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant program. However, VVFH does offer critical home repair for all Verde Valley homeowners.
“While Sedona does have this funding available for home repairs if [residents] don’t meet that qualification … please call us, because we might have another funding source that could help them,” VVHFH Executive Director Tania Simms said.
The program prioritizes health and safety-related repairs.
“So it can’t be, cosmetically, ‘I just want a new floor,’ there has to be a need associated with it.”
Some examples of critical home repairs are most commonly roofs and gutters, heating and cooling, plumbing, accessibility modifications, such as wheelchair ramps, electrical and foundation and stem wall work.
“It’s usually some big need that a homeowner [but] oftentimes, if you have sewer issues, you might have some plumbing issues that go with that, and so there might be some combination of projects at a given home,” Simms said.
To be eligible, the applicant’s gross family income must be within 30% to 80% of the Yavapai County median income. The home must be owner-occupied for at least the last 12 months, and the person listed on the title or mortgage must be the one to apply. Additionally, all property taxes must be current and documentation must be provided for all of the requirements.
The median household income in 2023 dollars in Yavapai County is $66,060 and 12.8% of the county’s residents are in poverty according to Census.gov.
Once eligibility is determined, VVHFH dispatches its construction manager to conduct a full home assessment.
“Sometimes a homeowner might miss something that really needs to be done,” Simms said. “Our team will discuss those findings and ask if the homeowner wants those issues addressed.”
Because it is federal funding providing the repairs Simms noted that the work has to go out to bid to contractors so the process typically takes at least a few months.
While the CDBG funding is Sedona-specific, Simms said VVHFH has other funding sources that allow them to assist homeowners outside of the city limits and residents who do not own the land.
For example, Simms noted that they are often able to install wheelchair ramps at manufactured homes which are often in mobile home parks where residents do not own the lot, just the mobile home above it.
“We also have another funding source that’s coming effective July that is also a federal funding source, but it helps bring the home completely up to code,” Simms said. “There’s not a maximum dollar amount that we have to spend on any one single homeowner where we do have a limit on what we can spend [on a given home] through the CDBG funds.”
The CDBG funds are available until the $400,000 is spent or until the funding ends late summer 2026.
“We want to serve as many people as we can and get the funds spent before the time is up,” Simms said. “So get your application in as soon as possible. … We try to match the homeowner with the funding source that works best for their situation. Whatever their needs are, they should still reach out to us.”
For more information about the Critical Home Repair program contact VVHFH at (928) 852-7661 or visit vvhabitat.org.
