‘A lifetime of work’

BY DAVE SUTOR

DSUTOR@TRIBDEM.COM

One day late last month, construction workers from Hosanna Industries spent a few hours at a home in Johnstown’s Coopersdale neighborhood, replacing old, dirty, damaged windows with clean, modern, more energy-efficient ones.

They did some other work, too, such as installing a new refrigerator.

It was part of Project Resurrect Johnstown, which started in early 2022 with the goal of providing free parts and labor for repairs to homes whose owners cannot afford the upgrades.

The houses immediately become more livable – and, in the long term, the improvements made it less likely that the structures might fall into further disrepair and be abandoned, which could add to the blight that is one of the city’s major problems regarding affordable housing and property values.

“If we can figure out ways to keep people, good people, in

Please see REPAIRS, A3

Editor’s note: This is the first part of a three-day CNHI News Service special report on affordable housing.

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their homes who are struggling with keeping their homes up, I think that is just a small feature – if not a larger feature – to the issue, the Johnstown issue, the Pittsburgh issue, the national issue of affordable housing,” said the Rev. Donn Ed, founder of Allegheny County-based Hosanna Industries.

Supported by the Johnstown Redevelopment Authority and the 1889 Foundation, Hosanna Industries has repaired approximately 40 local homes so far.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to be involved and try and be helpful,” said Ed, an Upper Yoder Township native who attended the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. “I would say there’s so much more that can be done.

“I wish I was a young man again. I mention to my colleagues, if I was young again, I’d just start out with an effort there in Johnstown because I think there’s a lifetime of work to be done there. I really do.”

Brian Hetzer, who has been with Hosanna Industries for 30 years, said helping others through his work is “a call from God.”

“It stabilizes a community,” Hetzer said. “It improves the economic blight in a community. It helps homeowners have equity in their home. It gives them a sense of pride in their home and joy and an answer to prayer.”

Hetzer was among the workers replacing windows at the Coopersdale home, as was Katie DeJournette, an 11-year veteran of Hosanna Industries. Both have participated in all the renovations in Johnstown.

“We are the ones that come in here and bring them a hope of light,” DeJournette said. “We just bring a lot of joy to their lives, bring a lot of hope and inspiration to them – help them realize that there’s someone out there that wants to help and be the support to them that they need.”

Blight is just one of the issues affecting the availability of and accessibility to affordable housing in Johnstown.

Many of the problems stem from the city’s economic struggles associated with poverty; population loss; higher unemployment rates than elsewhere in the state and nation; and the needs of an aging population, including handicap accessibility.

Given those factors, potential homebuyers often find it difficult to set aside enough money for a down payment, said Cambria Somerset Association of Realtors President Lee Hoffman.

“I’ve heard all sorts of different reasons of why people can’t quite save up that downpayment that was historically needed,” Hoffman said. “Historically, people needed 20% down. … Just with the general cost of homes, 20% down 20 years ago was a lot less than it is today.”

Hoffman said “creative programs” – including PrimeLending USDA, first-time homebuyer funds, grants, and classes that teach about paying bills and budgeting – can help.

In Johnstown, the city government allocated millions of American Rescue Plan Act dollars to provide grants to new homebuyers and existing owners who wanted to make weatherization repairs.

Dave Sutor is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-5325056. Follow him on Twitter @Dave_Sutor.

Brian Hetzer, Hosanna Industries constructive services supervisor,

stands for a photo at the job site on April 21 on Cooper Avenue in the Coopersdale section of Johnstown.

THOMAS SLUSSER/ THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT