MIFA Handyman
Why we do it
MIFA Handyman believes that low-income senior homeowners deserve to live in warmth, safety, and independence. With volunteers, staff, and paid contractors, we provide critically needed minor home improvements to allow seniors to continue to live in their own homes. MIFA Handyman operates the only organized wheelchair ramp building program in Memphis where all ramps are built by volunteers at no cost to the qualifying recipients. We are also the only non-profit in Memphis partnering with Memphis Light Gas & Water (MLGW) not only to repair homes, but also to improve their energy efficiency through the EnergySmart Memphis program. Our home repair assistance helps keeps homes and neighborhoods from becoming blighted. And it helps keep clients in their home and out of public housing and nursing homes.
What we do
Critical minor home repairs include: structural issues (collapsing floors, sagging and worn roofs), utility-related problems (heating, malfunctioning electrical outlets, broken water pipes), and home modifications (wheelchair ramps and grab bars). We provide education on basic home maintenance and energy efficiency. MIFA Handyman also uses youth volunteers to assist seniors with yard work, house painting, and other minor projects.
What we’ve done
Last year, MIFA Handyman received the help of over 500 volunteers donating over 5,000 hours. We performed 447 home inspection and repair jobs for 217 clients, including building or repairing 63 wheelchair ramps, replacing 13 roofs, and providing plumbing repairs to 40 households.
What can you do to help?
MIFA Handyman offers a variety of volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups (large or small), ages 14 and up. No experience or skills are needed for most volunteer projects. Our volunteer projects are good team-building experiences. Volunteers can help build ramps, paint, do yardwork, do minor construction, or help with special projects. MIFA Handyman is also always looking for new contractors to participate, as well as for individuals and companies who can donate new or used materials.
Teens from SHINE Catholic Work Camp, a youth ministry in the Archdiocese of the Galveston-Houston area, are in Memphis for their fifth summer to volunteer for MIFA’s Handyman program. Their projects in the Orange Mound neighborhood include yard work and prepping a house for a paint job.
Our partners
MIFA Handyman would like to thank a few of its partners for their support: the City of Memphis’ Division of Housing and Community Development, MLGW’s EnergySmart Memphis program, the Aging Commission of the Mid-South, United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee, and the Memphis Area Association of Governments.