Good Works, Inc.

Our mission is: Transforming lives by repairing homes for low-income families and sharing the hope found in Jesus Christ. Founded in 1988, Good Works is a faith based nonprofit dedicated to helping families living with serious health and safety issues. We turn unhealthy and inadequate houses into warmer, safer, drier homes, and despair into hope. <br><br>We serve families in 49 of the 73 Chester County municipalities through staging sites in Coatesville, West Chester, Phoenixville, and St. Peters. Applicants must own and live in the home, participate in repairs (as possible), have property taxes paid to date, and meet income guidelines. Most of the homeowners we assist are elderly, single parents, or individuals with disabilities. Our services are provided at no cost and volunteers do most of the repairs.<br><br>Improving a home's physical condition also improves the quality of life for everyone in the household and makes it possible for the family to keep and remain in the home.

Repairing homes and restoring hope in communities nationwide.

Goal One: Equip and empower volunteer work teams.

Goal Two: Create a vibrant and growing ministry with stakeholders.

Goal Three: Raise funds to exceed projected operating expenses by 3% annually.

Our staff, board members, and many of our volunteer leaders participate in regular leadership training seminars. Share Jesus without fear seminars and participating (and presenting) at Reframe conferences being prime examples.

The pandemic dramatically impacted volunteering, and necessitated new guidelines for managing volunteers and working in homes. Our current COVID policy for volunteers and homeowners can be found on the home page of our website, but I want to include information on volunteer numbers and their impact. In a normal year we have about 1,700 volunteers doing home repairs. Pre COVID, volunteer hours were running about 37,000 per year, we were assisting about 175 families and completing about 50 homes. In 2020 the number of volunteers dropped to 884, we had 21,378 donated hours, we assisted 157 families and completed 33 homes. In 2021 the numbers approved but the number of volunteers and volunteer hours are still way behind normal. We had 1,073 volunteers, 27,605 volunteer hours, assisted 165 families and completed 40 homes. Since most repairs are done by volunteers, their hesitancy to return has a huge impact on what we can accomplish. Our goals for 2022 are to get back close to pre-COVID levels: 1,600 volunteers, 34,000 volunteer hours, 180 families assisted and 50 homes completed. The second major impact to our program from the pandemic is the price of building materials. We do very extensive, and expensive, repairs, like replacing roofs and heating systems. What the average person does not realize is how the cost of building materials has increased during the pandemic. The price of lumber is up 300% since April 2020 according to the National Association of Home Builders. The largest increases have been with some common items (like the plywood used on roofs) which went from $10 to $60 – and is $35 today. Two years ago we spent an average of $10,000 per home on building materials, permits, dumpsters, and contractors. That figure is now over $13,500 because of the dramatic increase in the price of building materials. So, similar to our need to increase volunteer numbers, we are working harder and searching for all additional ways to increase income, donations.