For the last two years, the Whole-Home Repairs program has been operating across our Commonwealth, surviving on the original investment of $125 Million and occasional influxes of local county American Rescue Plan funding. This bipartisan win was historic in so many ways—but most important to me was how it delivers tangible, real solutions to our deteriorating housing stock. The benefits of this program can be seen, felt, and maintained across our communities in Berks county and beyond. Working-class people fought for and won Whole-Home Repairs and as always, it’s up to us to ensure this program keeps going.
No matter where we come from, what our zip code is, or our age, our income, or the color of our skin, we all deserve to live in safe and dignified homes. Hundreds of thousands of people across our Commonwealth—our neighbors and our loved ones—are living in homes that are unsafe because they don’t have access to the resources they need to make critical repairs. The Whole-Home Repairs Program has brought hope to communities across the Commonwealth that these repairs to our aging housing stock can be addressed, but the demand far exceeds the initial $125 appropriation. By blocking two $50 Million rounds of funding to keep it running in the 2023 and 2024 budget, Republicans have left thousands more families in their districts vulnerable.
PA is no stranger to the deep partisan divides felt around the country. It’s what made Whole-Home Repairs an exhilarating bipartisan win led by grassroots efforts from residents of all political beliefs across the state. The program has been enhancing existing home repair programs all across the Commonwealth, making our tax dollars more efficient. We have already spent the time and money creating an application process, meaning without more funding the Whole-Home Repairs program shuts down and we will be forced to restart it from scratch.
So why did Republicans like Senator Scott Martin take it out of the budget? Why is Scott Martin wasting time and money to kill one of the most popular housing-relief programs in the state? In the midst of a national housing crisis, we should be deploying every program and tool available to keep our neighbors in their homes, where they should be. Republicans have chosen to play partisan politics over the real, proven needs of their communities.
Call your legislators, especially if you live in a Republican-run district, and tell them how angry and upset you are that partisan politics has hung us out to dry once again. Tell them you will remember their failure to fight for us and our homes amid rising rents, utilities, and repair costs where it hurts them most—at the ballot box. The safety and security of our families and our loved ones hinges on the ability to stay in our homes. It transcends political boundaries. We all know this. Now it’s time to remind the Republicans who are playing games with our tax dollars that their actions have consequences to the very people they are supposed to serve.
As I said at the beginning, it’s always been up to us, the working class, to fight and win the changes that make our lives better. Politicians, and the billionaires who own them, need us feeling hopeless and alone because our collective power is exactly what will dismantle their house of cards. Join our Housing Justice Team and help us build the power to take back our tax dollars, housing, and dignity.
By: Celine Schrier, Berks Stands Up Organizer