Nonprofit helps Philadelphia homeowners with small repairs

Kimberly Speller's West Philadelphia rowhouse, its drafty windows no defense against the coming winter, saw the light of day one warm autumn morning in the form of a carpenter.

It was the Other Carpenter, a nonprofit built to fix homeowners' small but costly problems, that outfitted her three-story house with 11 shiny new windows in place of the old, rotten ones.

No contractors, no breaking the bank, no risk.

"When you hear what needs work, it's a lot of money," said Speller, a 40-year-old divorcée. "When you don't have the money, it's rough. Who wants to be homeless?"

For a minimal cost, her house had found salvation, and that's what David Heaton's organization has been providing for the last decade.

"Time and again, we see people who do two things: they hire somebody and that person hasn't been very good at the work and has done a poor job. Or they have hired somebody and that person has ripped them off," said Heaton, 60, a former roofing contractor who founded the Other Carpenter.

Affordable home repairs are the tradition of the Other Carpenter, a housing ministry that Heaton modeled after a similar organization in South Philadelphia he used to work for, Following the Carpenter. Both organizations reference the most famous biblical woodworker, Jesus.

His organization's 10th anniversary this year marks a decade of good deeds, the fruits of Heaton's spiritual awakening to serve others.

He made a commitment in 2001 to help others through the skills he had acquired over his 28-year career. He announced his intention to his church, Bryn Mawr Presbyterian, and recruited the help of his colleagues to establish the organization.

They began with four projects in the East Parkside community and have since expanded their services to West Parkside, Belmont, and Mantua, where they provide repair assistance for roughly 60 houses a year.

The Other Carpenter looks for homeowners of low to moderate income willing to pay 25 percent of the cost of equipment and building materials, which the organization buys on the homeowners' behalf. The average project costs about $1,000.

Although the Other Carpenter specializes in carpentry, its services run the gamut from porch renovations to wall construction to minor plumbing and electrical work. Because the volunteers have varying degrees of experience, the group doesn't do total rehabilitation projects, such as full-house roofing, Heaton said.

Over the years, Heaton's organization has introduced a formal training program. Nate Maybin, 27, worked in construction for 15 years with his father. Now, the Southwest Philadelphia native is a paid trainee for the Other Carpenter, preparing for a career in the trade.

"I've been doing this with my dad for years, and now I get to step on the pedestal and show people what I can do," said Maybin, who values the relationships forged with homeowners. "[We] always make sure to get well acquainted, get names, and keep up with them."

Homeowners also have to contribute their own labor to the repair projects, Heaton stressed.

"We work under an operational policy of working with the families and not for them," he said. "We want people to learn . . . how to measure, how to cut, how to install, how to use a tool."

Speller caulked three windows and, with some advice, and did it well.

"The first time, I was skeptical," Speller said. "The second time, I thought, 'Hey, I know what I'm doing!' "

Speller, who lives on the first floor of her three-story house, moved in recently after asking her tenants to leave because of flea problems.

Heaton, originally from Narberth, describes the work of the Other Carpenter as "the link between the suburbs and the city."

"We are connected to a lot of suburban people, schools, churches - individuals [who] bring their physical help and financial assistance to the city to help fix the homes," he said.

As a result, the organization attracts help from local churches like First African Presbyterian, where Maybin is a member, and from volunteers like Bill Hanna, a 70-year-old retiree from Newtown Square. A friend of Heaton's for 20 years, Hanna volunteers on Wednesdays.

"I will not schedule anything else on Wednesdays, except if it's a doctor's appointment," he said and laughed.

Volunteer Peter Charrington, 68, of Wayne, feels his contribution is needed to help those who lack "the types of comfort we expect but they never have."

More than 600 projects after he began, Heaton feels the same way.

"If you get a really strong response," he said, "where people are just totally delighted in how you've been able to change their house and their lives. . . . It's pretty gratifying."