OHFA grant replaces
run-down house built in 1908 with energy-efficient home
Diane Moore
stands in front of her new home in
Hominy with her grandchildren Summer and TJ.
Wild animals coming and going as they pleased through several
holes in the walls were the only guests Diane Moore used to have in
her home. In 1998, she bought a house in Hominy that most people
would consider inhabitable. It lacked gas and water and part of the
roof sagged so badly it touched the kitchen floor.
“I only paid $1,300 for it, but this was my home. I had no
other choice,” Diane said.
Prior to purchasing this house, Diane was forced to move when
her landlord didn’t pay his property taxes. Instead of renting
again, she decided to buy a house in order to save money on rent.
However, with her budget she could only afford this run-down
shack built in 1908.
“Honest to God, there was nothing but two by fours,” she
said.
Until the gas and water lines were finally installed months
later, Diane and her family cooked with a Coleman stove and took
showers at friends’ houses.
Over the next four years, Diane, her fiancé, Sam, and her
son, John, patched up the two-bedroom house piece by piece. They
stapled plastic over windows and holes, added new carpet, linoleum
and cabinets, and hammered down a new roof.
The house became a money pit. To pay for everything Diane had
to charge more than $10,000 on her credit card since her only source
of income was Social Security.
A woodstove heated their home in the winter because they
couldn’t afford to use gas. Each night, Diane woke up nearly every
hour to throw more logs into the fire.
Six years later, in 2004, when United CAP received a $250,000
grant from OHFA for Homeowner Occupied Home Rehabilitation, Diane
finally received some help.
Homeowner Occupied Home Rehabilitation grants allow cities,
counties and non-profit agencies to rehabilitate or reconstruct the
homes of individuals who meet low-income requirements.
In April of 2005, bulldozers demolished Diane’s house. Four
months later, a brand-new three bedroom, two-bathroom home worth
$80,000 had been constructed in its place.
Living in her new home has Diane’s overall health. Diane, who
has lupus and chronic pulmonary disease, has quit using her three
inhalers.
According to the American Lung Association’s website,
children, the elderly and people with preexisting cardiopulmonary
disease are most likely to be affected from exposure to woodsmoke.
Decreased breathing ability and exacerbation of asthma are two
health effects of woodsmoke exposure.
When United CAP asked her if people could visit her home to
see an example of a Homeowner Occupied Home Rehabilitation project,
Diane didn’t hesitate to say “yes.” This time she is proud to have
people come and see her home.
No longer embarrassed, Diane said she welcomes her guests with an
eager smile and the words, “Come in. Come in.”
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