BLAKESLEE, Pa. — A group of volunteers from Paoli United Methodist Church in Chester County have been hard at work, donating their time to repair a home in Blakeslee.
It's part of a Monroe County Habitat for Humanity home preservation project.
"She requested help. Her chimney was actually collapsing and rotting from water leakage from inside the house, so she also had a roof problem, so everywhere she looked, water was coming into the house. So we took this job on," said Kelly Kemmerer, the executive director.
Kemmerer says with inflation being high, she's noticed more Monroe County residents reaching out for the organization's assistance.
"People in our area have less disposable income because the price of food and the price of gas is rising," Kemmerer said. "The prices of their daily living essentials needs, so they are reaching out more to us for help with smaller home repairs."
But high prices aren't just impacting people who need help. Kemmerer says the cost of materials used by Habitat for Humanity has gone up, too.
"The cost to do anything with wood has just really been rising. So it's been a struggle. We're not able to stretch out funds as far as we could in the past," Kemmerer said.
Despite high gas prices, volunteers say that won't stop them from helping those in need.
"Never shied about no. No, the youth love it, and the adults love it as many adults come on the trip as the youth, and everybody loves giving back to the community," said Jim Wismer, with Paoli United Methodist Church.
"Luckily, a lot of our volunteers, even though we know they've had to deal with higher gas prices, they've told us they don't care. They just want to keep volunteering, so that's amazing," said Kemmerer.
Monroe County Habitat for Humanity is on schedule to complete 30 home preservation projects this year.
If you are interested in volunteering, click here.
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