Extreme home makeover – church style
BRADFORD, ON—The story is told among residents of Bradford Manor that a previous tenant was turned away at the library when staff learned where he lived.
"People get so caught up in how things look on the outside," says current resident David Stewart, "that if a building looks run down they make judgments about the kind of people who live there."
But this August the peeling paint and worn interior of this low-income housing complex is getting a radical facelift courtesy of local churches.
"We're calling it an extreme home makeover, Bradford style," says Joshua Schrader of CrossTrainers Canada—an organization that brings local churches together to meet needs in the community.
About 40 residents currently live in the privately owned housing complex. Many are on government assistance and have physical or mental disabilities.
"It's pretty rough around the edges," Schrader says. "It will be a world of difference to have some fresh paint, some new flooring, some new furniture and landscaping. It's obvious when you go into the place that the staff are busy and it needs some help being maintained."
In the visibly run-down kitchen, building owner John Gasper explains that CrossTrainers is hoping to install new ceramic tile, paint the walls and provide them with an industrial dishwasher.
While Manor staff and residents have been working to improve the building, Gasper says the high turn-over rate poses a challenge.
"We have done a lot of good renovations," Gasper says. "But wear and tear shows. We have some transient people and they're quite hard on the place."
Also, as rent is geared to income, there hasn't been a lot of spare money available to put into the building's cosmetics.
Bradford Manor doesn't receive any government funding or subsidies. In fact, Gasper says Simcoe Region has consistently turned down his requests for subsidies, meaning he receives over $600 less a month for some residences than he does at his other facilities in bordering York Region, where the government is more supportive. Still, he gets several phone calls a week from social service agencies and hospitals asking if he has room for one more.
"It's been a constant battle," he adds. "I have applied for subsidies for five years and they have refused. I have made presentations, but my requests have fallen on deaf ears."
He's emotional about the help CrossTrainers is offering.
"It's fantastic," he says. "It's a wonderful thing. I'm also quite touched that the community is coming around. When I first bought the place, the community was against my concept of physical and mental disabilities. But we don't tolerate people here who do damage to the neighborhood."
Stewart has been living at Bradford Manor for two years. Due to a glandular problem, he has mobility problems and needed to find a home with the accessibility the Manor provides.
"Some other residents here are like family to me," he says. "As long as some people live here, they're able to deal with their problems. As long as they're here they're all right. But once they leave here it's too easy for the people who feed off of them to get a hold of them."
The make-over will take place August 16 to 21and is being spearheaded by CrossTrainers' founder Jodi Greenstreet. Schrader says virtually every local church has signed up to help, as well as some from the surrounding area. One group is even driving up from Boston to help.
Other initiatives they're helping facilitate with local churches include a neighborhood café, children's ministry, a clothing room, women's Bible studies and transitional housing for women in need.
"We're all about meeting the needs of the community," Schrader says, "and this is a huge need the Lord has laid on our hearts.
"To be able to encourage the local churches to meet a local need, to be able to love people and make their living situation better, and to give God all the praise and glory—it's a no-brainer."
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