Repairing Home, Restoring Dignity

In a home on San Antonio’s East Side neighborhood of Denver Heights,  Juana Rosa Mercado cooked meager meals on a hot plate and used a small crockpot to heat water for her bath. There was no running water, no heat and no working stove.

Like so many older adults in San Antonio, Mrs. Mercado was no longer living in comfort, safety or even with the dignity she deserved. That’s when Merced Housing Texas stepped in to help.

Merced made critical health and safety-related repairs so she could go on living in the home she loved for many years to come. More than 16 years later, Merced has completed repairs on more than 630 homes for people just like her — our very-low-income disabled and older neighbors in San Antonio — transforming their lives and their communities one home at a time.

Miss Mercado’s home repair was made possible through a generous donation from the Dave Coy Foundation administered through the Bank of America which supplemented $2,500 of Merced funds.  This 2002 project was the start of the Owner-Occupied Repair Program at Merced, one of several programs that support the Merced mission. Since then, many foundations, corporations, and individuals have supported the Owner-Occupied Repair Program.

Today, as our population ages and poverty persists, the need far outpaces the funds available to help.

Though our waiting list numbers in the hundreds, we remain committed to addressing this urgent need as resources become available.

As long as there are senior homeowners in our community who are forced to defer home repairs for basic living expenses like food, medication and property taxes — as long as the most frail among us are found enduring hardships like nonfunctioning toilets, open sewer draining, gas leaks, dangerous electrical wiring and no air conditioning during hot Texas summers, we will persevere in our effort to help.

We will repair a wooden porch that can no longer bear weight or right a sloping kitchen floor. We will fix ceilings and roofs, and replace hazardous wiring and busted plumbing.

We will transform lives, returning hope and dignity to those most vulnerable.

You can help. Learn more about Merced and the Owner-Occupied Repair Program.