By Carole Hawkins, [email protected]
Shawn Prentiss was pretty tough in her younger days.
A former Air Force mechanic, every morning she’d get dropped off at work with a 100-pound toolbox at her feet.
She’d dead-lift it to her knees, then to her shoulder. She’d carry it that way up the driveway.
Now 58, she figures those days are what’s behind the rotator cuff and bicep surgery she had two years ago.
She bought the St. Augustine house she lives in 22 years ago with her father and husband.
Today she’s 10 years divorced. Her dad died in 2001. And the pain in her shoulders and joints makes it hard to do certain things.
“I only cut a quarter of my grass at a time,” she said.
She mows the lawn in parts, on different days.
On Oct. 22, though, the whole lawn got caught up. So did the brush removal, sidewalk edging and house painting.
“It’s going to make it easier for me to keep it that way,” Prentiss said.
There were 15 others like her who got help. The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors and St. Johns Realtors worked beside church members, student groups, elected officials and nonprofit volunteers to make affordable housing a little more pleasant for low-income residents in St. Johns County.
The effort was led by the St. Johns Housing Partnership. The affordable housing nonprofit sponsors the workday every year to coincide with Make a Difference Day, a national day of community service.
The majority of people on the task list were seniors. A third were vets. Many had led productive lives. But age, losing a spouse and losing a second Social Security check can make finances tough.
“A lot of these people are living on incomes of less than $25,000 a year,” said Bill Lazar, executive director for the partnership. “A new coat of paint just changes their world.”
Six of the two dozen volunteers at Prentiss’ house were from the Women’s Council of Realtors, Jacksonville. In addition to their assigned chores, the group decided to cut back the overgrowth in the backyard.
“This house backs up to a creek,” WCR President Rory Dubin said. “We wanted to give her that view back.”
Just a few blocks away from the Prentiss home, another group of Realtors cut shrubs and painted the trim cranberry red at a low-income apartment complex.
One of them was Robbin Wilson, an agent from the Atlantic Beach office of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty. New to the area, Wilson had participated in service days many times in the past. When she heard of the St. Johns project, she sent out an email and three other agents from her office joined her.
“It makes sense for us to do this,” Wilson said. “We’re already working in the community. We sell homes to our clients.”
St. Johns County is more commonly known for its upscale homes and high-growth than for affordable apartments. Lazar said the workday is a reminder that even in St. Johns, there are people who need help with housing.
“As much as everyone says we’ve got a great home market, almost everything that’s built is above $300,000,” Lazar said. “You’d need a household income of $80,000 to afford that.”
The apartment complex is one the partnership recently purchased to use in its affordable rental program. Under the previous owner, maintenance had lagged, said Don Mullinax who, as Community Affairs Task Force chairman for NEFAR organized the Realtor work crews.
Now, worn carpet has been replaced with tile and SJHP plans to install a metal roof and energy-efficient appliances. The Realtors wanted to be part of the effort and to help the organization which helps so many others.
This apartment really hits the mark with what they’re trying to do with low-income rentals,” Mullinax said of SJHP. “We’re just putting the lipstick on it.”
The Partnership buys houses in targeted communities whose viability has been and continues to be damaged by the economic effects of properties that have been foreclosed upon or abandoned. The home is then rented to low income tenants, allowing them the opportunity to enjoy the nation’s largest day of community service.