Residents of the Larsen neighborhood in Jacksonville lived on well water for many years. When the wells began to fail, however, residents were left without options. No water lines had been installed in the neighborhood.
To retrofit the neighborhood with water and sewer service would require a capital project, which the City and the city-owned utility had not budgeted. Homeowners would be required to pay for the new lines and meters.
Mayor Alvin Brown signed legislation this past summer to provide water service to the area after City council member Lori Boyer sponsored a bill in response to residents’ requests for clean water.
NEFBA Past President and Builders Care board member Greg Matovina contacted Councilwoman Boyer with an offer to provide construction assistance through Builders Care.
“Builders Care offered to donate labor, design and some materials if the City could fund other materials and fees to complete the extension of water lines throughout the entire neighborhood,” Boyer said.
Boyer expressed gratitude for Builders Care and its willingness to help move the project forward.
Builders Care involvement would essentially cut the estimated $900,000 project costs in half.
“To us at Builders Care, this is what we were called to do and really what this is going to do is help spawn other projects,” Builders Care Executive Director Matt Wilford told a local reporter in July, when the bill was signed by Mayor Brown. “We can come out in the Larsen community (and) provide those low- to no- cost construction services on the inside of some of these homes as well.”
No- and low-cost construction is the non-profit organization’s major mission, and restoring aging unsafe, unhealthy homes is the basis upon which Builders Care was established. In recent years, assistance has been extended to other non-profits who generally serve the same target population as Builders Care – low-income, elderly, disabled homeowners who do not have the resources to make changes demanded by building codes or to meet the needs of the disabled.
“Helping other non-profits extends our outreach,” Wilford said. “We are helping other agencies provide food, clothing and other services to a wider audience. That’s in keeping with our overall mission of improving the quality of life for all of Jacksonville’s residents.”
Builders Care relies on donations of funds, materials and volunteer time and labor. The Larsen project is a major one, and if you want to be part of the solution helping bring clean water to this Jacksonville neighborhood, contact Builders Care at 727-3443, and visit Builders Care’s website at www.builderscare.org.