Taking care of things is a guiding principle for Keri, one that extends far beyond her home and family, to respecting the earth, its resources, and its people. Repair, mend, reuse and recycle. For Keri, this is a personal responsibility, living the opposite of a disposable lifestyle, and something she takes very seriously.
Of course, home repairs fit into that principle too, to preserve her home for her family and the next generation. A decade ago, Keri bought her 77-year-old bungalow in the Cully neighborhood, where she and her 18-month-old daughter Amara enjoy the shade of towering Douglas firs, friendly neighbors, and a neighborhood rich with diversity and community spirit.
But home repairs are expensive, and you can’t buy a used roof (nor should you).
“It had lived its life and reached its limit,” Keri said of the old roof.
Keri fell in love with the Cully Neighborhood when she taught yoga for at-risk youth near her current home. Cully is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city of Portland, and its diversity appealed to Keri as a place to call home.
Keri works as a yoga instructor on a contract basis, and after the birth of Amara, a new roof was financially unrealistic. So, she called Habitat for Humanity Portland Region’s Home Repair Program and found she qualified for assistance in getting a new roof installed.
Habitat for Humanity partners with qualified homeowners to alleviate health and safety issues and complete needed home improvement projects with the goal of helping homeowners stay in their existing homes and age in place. Repairs include roofing, as in Keri’s case, but also plumbing and electrical repairs, heating and cooling systems, siding, water intrusion, ADA ramps, fall prevention, wheelchair-friendly flooring, widening doorways for accessibility and other modifications for disabilities.
In 2024, Habitat provided 36 repairs to 85 people across the Portland metropolitan region and plans to complete 60 repairs in the coming year.
Partnering with Habitat made sense on many levels for Keri. It made repairing her home possible, but it also fit in with her values in preserving her home for environmental and social reasons, engaging community resources, and embracing people’s capacity and desire to help each other when they need it.
Keri said that after she had her baby, she appreciated that sense of community much more, from the online network of people who exchange gently used goods, to the resource of Habitat’s Home Repair program to replace her roof and extend the life of her home.
“It’s been a really humbling and incredible experience, and one from which I’ve taken away so much.” Keri said.
