Human services officials in Blair County have begun working with faith-based groups under the aegis of Operation Our Town on an initiative in which volunteers would make minor repairs on homes owned by people who can’t afford to make those repairs themselves.

The initiative would be patterned after TEAMeffort, a nonprofit, interdenominational Christian organization that sponsors mission trips for youth groups who make repairs for needy families in the summers in various locations around the country, including Altoona, according to Tricia Johnson, director of the Blair County Department of Social Services, and Lisa Hann, executive director of Family Services Inc. Both Johnson and Hann spoke about the initiative at a recent meeting of the Hope for the Homeless committee.

The idea for the initiative came up in a meeting of the county’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund Committee, following a discussion about Altoona homeowners cited by the city for code violations that they lack the funds to repair, Hann said.

The county has some money in the trust fund, but not enough to cover all the costs of such repairs for a significant number of families, she said.

That could change if the cost of labor were covered and the trust fund was only needed to pay for materials, Hann said.

The goal is to find faith-based organizations willing to help create a TEAMeffort-type initiative, Johnson said.

The repairs to be targeted are minor ones that nevertheless can “spiral and grow,” Johnson said.

A single church, multiple churches or a faith-based organization at the diocese or synod level could take charge, Johnson said.

The county would support the effort, she said.

The members of the Roundtable have just begun “to step into the water,” Hann said.

So far, they’ve obtained a list of homeowners who need help, she said.

Because the trust fund would not pay for materials up front, but only reimburse costs that have already been paid, it might behoove potential organizers to put together a fund to make those initial purchases, Hann suggested.

The fund would be replenished by the reimbursements.

One of the key motivations in the initiative would be to prevent needy homeowners from becoming homeless, Hann said.

The Faith-Based Roundtable meets at 1 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at the offices of the Blair Drug and Alcohol Partnership, 3001 Fairway Drive, Suite D, Hann said.

Anyone interested in helping is welcome to attend, she added.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.