Greater Blessing repair program makes big difference with smaller projects

Greater Blessing repair program makes big difference with smaller projects

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” – Acts 20:35

The Greater Blessing repair program is designed to help low income homeowners — often the elderly and handicapped — make basic health and safety repairs to their homes. In many cases, these repairs allow the homeowner to stay in a house that they might otherwise have been forced to leave.

The program allows for repairs costing up to $5,000 in materials and professional labor. Most of the work is done by volunteers working alongside the homeowner. There are no loan documents with this program. Instead, the homeowner is asked to repay the costs, over time and with no interest charged, on terms they can afford. Their payments stay in the community to assist other families, and the homeowner gets the Greater Blessing of giving back.

A key component of the program is the Greater Blessing Box. Once the costs have been established, the homeowner, working with the Family Partnering Committee, determines an amount that they can pay each month. The total costs are then divided by that amount to determine the number of payments to be made. When the work is completed and dedicated, the family receives a Greater Blessing Box containing envelopes for each monthly payment.

 The beneficiary must own and occupy the home, have income at 50 percent or less of the local median, have no other resources with which to make the repairs, and have sufficient income to repay the construction costs.

Some ask why these projects aren’t done for free. To this our late founder Millard Fuller replied, “My thought is that charity home repair programs are good, but they are deficient theologically because if you believe that giving is more blessed than receiving, the recipients in such programs are denied the greater blessing. In our work, we do not want to deny that greater blessing and that is why we give the recipients the opportunity to give something back.”

If you would like to support one of our covenant partners in doing Greater Blessing projects or would like to know more about applying to partner for a Greater Blessing project for your home, view our directory of covenant partners and see if there is one in your area. Then, click the name of the covenant partner to see their contact information.