Philadelphia, PA − February 9, 2023 − The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development recently released information on the overwhelming demand for Whole-Home Repairs Program funding in counties across the Commonwealth: 64 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, covering nearly 99% of the state’s population, have submitted applications to administer the program for their residents.
The Whole-Home Repairs Program, which establishes a one-stop shop for Pennsylvanians to repair, weatherize, and adapt their homes, was created and championed by State Senator Nikil Saval (D–Philadelphia). Saval brought together a broad coalition of community organizations, housing and energy advocates, and Pennsylvania residents who secured bipartisan, bicameral support for the program’s passage. He issued the following statement:
“A home that is safe and healthy is one of our most basic, most essential needs. But when one in every four Pennsylvania voters lives in a home in need of a critical repair, we see the results of our system’s historic failure to support our residents and their communities.
“Since the passage of the Whole-Home Repairs Program, my office has taken thousands of calls from people whose homes are in urgent need of repair and who—without this program—are unable to fix them. That nearly all counties in our Commonwealth have applied for Whole-Home Repairs funding underscores the breadth and the enormity of this need.
“And as large as this need is throughout our Commonwealth, we know that Pennsylvania is not alone. States across the country are looking for new ways to advance their fight against housing insecurity, and Pennsylvania has emerged as a national model. Since the passage of the Whole-Home Repairs Program, we’ve received inquiries from California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington State, and Wisconsin. And Whole-Home Repairs legislation was recently introduced in Maryland.
“The passage of the Whole-Home Repairs Program in July 2022 marked one of Pennsylvania’s largest housing investments in recent history. But after decades of disinvestment from all levels of government, the immense need far outpaces the available support. Pennsylvania needs dedicated, recurring funding for the Whole-Home Repairs Program enshrined in our state budget.
“I’m committed to working to fund this program to meet the need statewide—until every household, in every county, has the resources they need to make their home whole.”
The groundbreaking Whole-Home Repairs Program builds on existing federal, state, and local home repair and weatherization programs. This program (1) provides up to $50,000 for habitability repairs, accessibility measures, and energy efficiency upgrades; (2) allocates support staff to ensure applicants receive the help they need in the order they need it; and (3) funds pre-apprenticeship and training programs to build a skilled local workforce to meet the growing demand and keep these workers, and the jobs they do, local.
The program was signed into law in July 2022 with a $125-million appropriation to seed and launch the program. In the coming weeks, the Department of Community and Economic Development will issue award letters and execute contracts to deliver funds to program administrators in counties across the Commonwealth. Administrators will then be able to move forward in rolling out the program for residents to apply.
Whole-Home Repairs program guidelines are available on the Department of Community and Economic Development’s website: https://dced.pa.gov/programs/covid-19-arpa-whole-home-repairs-program/.
A list of county applicants and funding allocations is available from the Department of Community and Economic Development: https://dced.pa.gov/download/whole-home-repair-allocations/?wpdmdl=117131.
Additional information on the Whole-Home Repairs Program and the campaign to win it for counties across the state is available at https://www.pasenatorsaval.com/wholehomerepairs.