People Working Cooperatively invites volunteers to help their neighbors

For almost 50 years, People Working Cooperatively (PWC) has been providing critical home repairs, energy conservation and accessibility modification services to allow residents to remain independent and healthy in their homes. PWC assists nearly 9,000 individuals in southwestern Ohio, northern Kentucky and southeast Indiana.

“We like to say it started in the garage of our two founders,” says Randi Kamp, marketing and special events manager. “There was just a need for low-income homeowners to receive help keeping their homes in a condition where they could continue living in them. There really aren’t any organizations like People Working Cooperatively around so they felt a need and they found a way to fulfill it.”

One of the ways PWC helps people is through community events, like Repair Affair. Repair Affair is an annual summer volunteer event to repair and provide home maintenance services to low-income seniors and people with disabilities in the community.

“It’s an opportunity for those in the community who might have a few home repair skills that they could put to use. They form groups and those groups are sent out throughout the Greater Cincinnati area to do some of the home repairs that are on our waitlist,” Kamp says.

“They do everything from installing handrails to repairing concrete, decks and stairs, even painting and landscaping. We kind of look for projects that fit all skill levels. We have volunteers who are handy and just want to get out there and help.”

This year’s Repair Affair will be held in June, with the celebration on June 10. To learn more about volunteering for Repair Affair, register online at pwchomerepairs.org or contact Brian McLaughlin at mclaughlinb@pwchomerepairs.org or 513-482-5165.

Another event PWC hosts is Boards & Brews, which is hosted by the PWC Emerging Leadership Board and the Samuel Adams Cincinnati Taproom.

“We have an emerging leaders board made up of young professionals who are very supportive of the mission of PWC and they wanted to find a way to help raise money towards People Working Cooperatively’s mission and programs,” Kamp says. “So they created this Boards & Brews event, and last year was our first one.”

For the event, homebrewing teams create and brew their own beer to submit in the competition. According to Kamp, there are about 17 teams competing in the Homebrew Competition and they started working on their beers in March. Once all of the entries are submitted, judges will decide on the winner, culminating in Sam Adams brewing the winning beer.

“At our Aug. 6 cornhole tournament event, we will be tapping that beer. The winners get to see their beer on tap at that event, and then we invite the community to come out and compete in the cornhole tournament as well,” Kamp says.

In November, PWC hosts its Prepare Affair, which is a larger event than Repair Affair because it’s open to all volunteers of any skill.

“We have children coming out with their families—lots of churches and schools and scouting groups. But [Prepare Affair] is mainly just preparing homes for the winter, so cleaning up all the leaves that have fallen. It’s a lot of raking and a lot of cleaning out gutters,” Kamp says. “It’s a really big community event and we really enjoy it.”

Even though these tasks may seem minor, they have a real impact on the homeowners.

“A lot of the homeowners that receive services through Prepare Affair are elderly, live at home alone and are unable to do that for themselves. We have a lot of those homeowners come out and actually get to spend time with some of the volunteers … they just enjoy seeing people there and seeing people help them,” Kamp says.

“Because, a lot of times, it’s hard to ask for help. When you live alone and can’t do it yourself, to have people dedicate their day to doing that, I think makes them feel appreciated and included.”

Community outreach events don’t just impact the homeowners. Kamp says the volunteers directly see their impact through their actions, even if it’s simply raking leaves.

“We’ve heard from a lot of volunteers that this [Prepare Affair] really touches them because they do hear from those homeowners. The homeowners are able to step outside or interact with them and tell them how much they appreciate it,” Kamp says.

The impact of these events stretches far beyond the service boundaries of PWC. Some volunteers take the same passion for helping and continue to volunteer in their own communities.

“Through these events, because we have such a large impact in the Greater Cincinnati area, a lot of groups are looking to help homeowners that are within their direct community. If they live on the west side, they’re able to help neighborhoods on the west side, or if they’re in northern Cincinnati, they’re able to help homeowners there,” Kamp says. “They’re able to see that impact directly where they live.”

Kamp says PWC is a rare organization, adding that PWC is “unique for employing all of the trades.” Many organizations that do similar work rely entirely on volunteers. PWC, however, has a full staff that is ready to help with emergency repairs and modifications.

“We’ve found that helping people to stay in their homes brings down costs for the community as a whole, instead of someone not being able to stay in their home and having to go to a retirement home or somewhere else.”

Sometimes, helping someone stay in their home has a deeper meaning. Kamp says a lot of PWC’s clients are in homes that have been in their families for generations. For sentimental or financial reasons, the homeowner can’t just sell their house.

“Just selling a home to get money is not going to fix the problem, because they’re not going to be able to use that money to afford to move somewhere else, so they depend on us to come in and make sure their home is somewhere that they can stay and hopefully pass on to their children after them,” Kamp says.