How Do You Repair a Home on $936 a Month? | Rachel Nelson, Home Repairs for Good

On today's show I sat down with Rachel Nelson, executive director of Home Repairs for Good, an Indianapolis nonprofit that helps older adults (62+) and people with disabilities living on very low incomes (about 30% AMI) stay safely in their homes through free critical repairs inside Marion County's 465 loop.

Nelson explains how the organization began in 2013 as NeighborLink Indianapolis when founder Dave Withy and friends did word-of-mouth repairs, often preventing citations, fines, liens, and potential loss of homes. She details their scale (hundreds of repairs annually, including citation-related work), volunteer pathways from low-skill projects to trained gutter and in-home "handy" teams with background checks, and funding through donors, churches, team volunteer donations, and paid subcontracting.

Our conversation also covers workforce development through BY Plus with paid jobsite experience, plus a Growth Program that earns revenue via contractor work to sustain free repairs, and future plans to expand aging-ready home modifications.

If you like this episode and want to hear more Get IN. episodes where I interview Hoosiers making a difference, visit getindiana.com/podcast.

You are going to learn about:
- What Home Repairs for Good Is and Who They Serve
- Volunteer Opportunities with Home Repairs for Good
- How Home Repairs for Good Is Funded
- How Home Repairs for Good Helps with Workforce Development 

Check out these great clips from the show:
00:00 Mission And Impact
00:27 Guest Introduction: Rachel Nelson, Home Repairs for Good
01:35 The Aging In Place Problem
04:01 How It All Started
05:14 Citation Spiral Example
10:14 Scale And Eligibility
18:07 Growth With Staff
19:44 Funding Without Federal
22:04 Volunteer Paths And Training
27:19 Gutter Team And Handy Volunteers
31:26 Workforce Development Tease
31:58 Trade Worker Shortage
33:01 BY Plus Partnership
33:56 NCCER Basics Explained
35:52 Urban Access Barriers
37:44 Paid Jobsite Expectations
39:00 Legal Aid Support
39:35 Funding The Mission
41:44 Growth Program Model
44:54 Contracting With The City
47:40 Future Aging Ready Homes
49:54 Ways To Get Involved
52:27 Freedom Flyer Eagle
54:10 Favorite Indy Neighborhoods
56:27 Indiana Home Stories
59:14 Hidden Gem Floyds Knobs
01:00:25 Hoosier To Watch
01:02:40 Final Wrap And Thanks

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