Macon Program for Progress and Habitat for Humanity have joined forces to help 10 Macon County residents feel safer in their homes.
Last February, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina invested $8 million into expanding rural health ventures, including the Healthy Home Initiative. Citing that about 40% of North Carolina’s population lives in the state’s 80 rural counties, the organization started the initiative specifically to benefit rural counties by tackling their problems at the source.
“Blue Cross NC is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of every North Carolinian, no matter what part of the state they call home,” Cheryl Parquet, director of community and diversity engagement at Blue Cross NC, said. “That’s why we’re investing in programs that support rural areas across the state, helping local leaders, businesses and organizations improve the health of their communities.”
One of the organizations that they chose to support was Macon Program for Progress, which received a grant for $25,000 to improve living conditions for low-income Macon County residents. Charam Orth, the community service director at MPP, says that Macon County has a particularly high need for the initiative because of an abundance of seniors who lack the physical and monetary resources to deal with major alterations to their homes, not only for general repairs but also with modifications that will keep them safe and mobile as they get older.
“There’s quite a bit of need for this in our community,” Orth said. “We have a much older demographic here that’s living on a fixed income and can’t afford renovations.”
To help address this need, MPP is using the money to fund renovations through Habitat for Humanity. Habitat’s outreach program is spending $2,500 on 10 homes in Macon County to address the most serious problems facing those homeowners, while helping to as many people as possible. John Wert, a crew leader for Habitat, says that while the organization builds plenty of homes from scratch, making repairs is the most efficient way to keep people in safe housing.
“Where we could spend a year working on one new house, we can help 40 or 50 people a year with the outreach program,” Wert said. “It’s an awesome opportunity.”
The program started with the home of 86-year-old Vaughn Sanders. A lifelong Macon County resident and a widow for over 20 years, Sanders knows a thing or two about taking care of herself. After her cancer diagnosis, however, she had to face new daily obstacles at home, including navigating her front step in a wheelchair. The construction crew made several repairs around her home, but most notably, they built her a front porch with a ramp to make moving around in her chair easier, a change that she says that she will be eternally grateful for.
“I’ve got cancer and I can’t move around too well, so this is a big help and it would be to anyone in this situation,” Sanders said. “As long as I’m on this earth, I’ll be grateful.”
The second candidate for the program has already been selected, but eight more still need to be chosen. Macon Program for Progress hopes to see more funding from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina in the future. For more information, call MPP at (828) 524-4471 or go online to www.mppnhc.org.