HRRC has served homeowners for 50 years

HRRC members, with a young helper, at work on a home rehab on Woodview Road, in the 1990s. [photo courtesy HRRC]

This autumn, the Home Repair Resource Center (HRRC) will mark its 50th anniversary.

Formed by a group of socially conscious parishioners at Forest Hill Church, the agency was known as the Forest Hill Church Housing Corporation at its outset.

In those early years, the organization’s members sought to address deteriorating housing stock, income inequalities, and racial inequities by taking on projects such as the original conversion of a double- into a single-family dwelling, and the creation of the still-active Challenge Fund, to provide low-interest loans to Heights residents who typically can’t obtain conventional home repair loans.

Through their work, a diverse mix of thousands of homeowners have utilized HRRC programs over the past half-century.

Today, HRRC continues its commitment to preserving this community’s housing stock, increasing the number of people able to purchase their first homes, providing financial assistance to homeowners needing important repairs, and working to reduce the number of unnecessary foreclosures. Thanks to its well-stocked tool library and hands-on repair workshops, the agency gives homeowners the tools—literally and figuratively—to maintain their homes themselves. 

HRRC recognizes that, while a home may indeed be a castle, maintaining the integrity of one's home—the average American’s greatest investment—is not an easy task. HRRC operates under the belief that homeowners needn’t go it alone; a strong housing stock begets a strong community, and vice versa.

In the future, HRRC plans to continue its outreach to the community while expanding its financial repair programs in Cleveland Heights and Cuyahoga County.

None of the agency’s accomplishments over the past 50 years could have been possible without the support of the residents of Cleveland Heights, and the many forward-thinking members of the city’s government, all of whom HRRC thanks. 

For more information, or to find out if any of the agency’s many resources can assist you, contact HRRC at 216-381-6100, or visit HRRC’s website, www.hrrc-ch.org.