Recently, SERCAP’s Essential & Critical Needs Program assisted a low-income couple in Caroline County, VA, with repairing their water-lines. The water pipes and hoses at their home had deteriorated and needed repairs. However, since the couple’s sole income is from social security, they were unable to afford the cost of the repairs themselves without experiencing financial hardship.

Home to 114 African American residents, the small community of Weems is located in the Greentown and Gaskins Road area of Lancaster County, VA. In 2016, funds from USDA’s Rural Utility Service (RUS) and a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the Virginia Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD) were designated for the construction of a wastewater treatment system to serve the community’s 45 households. Initially, a Package Plant known as the Living Machine, which mimics a natural wetland system, was built. This type of system requires a minimum intake of wastewater so it will continually move through the tanks and not lay dormant. However, due to engineering and construction delays, the treatment plant lay idle for a couple of years before it was placed into service.

Recently, SERCAP’s Certified CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) Loan Fund assisted a low-income family of four (4) living in Culpeper County, VA, to have a new well drilled at their home. The clients old well went dry, leaving them completely without access to potable water for several weeks. However, due to the clients’ low-income status, they were unable to afford the cost of drilling a new well on their own without causing serious financial hardship.

In June of 2017, SERCAP’s Housing Department was awarded the Rehabilitation Specialist Services Contract for the Stanardsville Downtown Revitalization Project, a CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) Construction Improvement Grant (CIG) project in Greene County, VA. Over the past 30 months, SERCAP’s Housing Team has diligently worked with the community to oversee the rehabilitation of the designated properties selected for the project. Once the project is complete, SERCAP will have provided housing rehabilitation assistance to 10 downtown apartment units in the Town of Stanardsville. The project will bring the selected apartment units up to the Virginia Department of Housing & Community Development’s (DHCD) Housing Quality Standards (HQS), improve the beneficiaries’ living conditions, and remove blight from the community.

Recently, SERCAP’s Essential & Critical Needs Program assisted a low-income, family of six (6) in Botetourt County, VA, with repairing their septic drain-field. The family has been living in their home for four (4) years, and they recently began experiencing difficulty with their septic system. The drain-field was not draining properly and sewage/wastewater was coming out of the ground. However, since the family is low-income, they were unable to afford the cost of repairing the septic drain-field themselves without experiencing financial hardship.

Recently, SERCAP’s Certified CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) Loan Fund assisted a low-income elderly woman living in Stafford County, VA, to have a new well drilled. Her old well went dry, leaving her without potable water in her home for a few months. However, due to the client’s low-income status, she was unable to afford the cost of drilling a new well on her own without causing serious financial hardship.

In the Spring of 2018, SERCAP’s Housing Department was awarded the Rehabilitation Specialist Services Contract for the Town of Dillwyn Rehabilitation Project, a CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) Construction Improvement Grant (CIG) project in Buckingham County, VA. Over the past 18 months, SERCAP’s Housing Team has been diligently working with the community to oversee the rehabilitation and/or substantial reconstruction of the designated properties selected for this project. Once the project is finished, SERCAP will have completed housing rehabilitation and/or substantial reconstruction for six (6) Households in the Town of Dillwyn.

Since becoming a HUD approved Local Housing Counseling Agency (LHCA) in 2012, SERCAP’s Housing Counseling Program has served hundreds of clients and provided a variety of Housing Counseling and Financial Literacy services. This year SERCAP is working to create and execute a series of Holiday focused budgeting and scam prevention workshops.

Recently, SERCAP’s Essential & Critical Needs Program assisted a low-income, single female in Bedford County, VA, with repairing her individual household well. Approximately nine (9) months ago she began experiencing serious difficulties with her well as it was constantly running dry, leaving her without adequate access to potable water. However, since she receives SSI and is low-income, she was unable to afford the cost of repairing the well herself without experiencing financial hardship.

Recently, SERCAP’s Certified CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) Loan Fund assisted a low-income single woman living in Lancaster County, VA, to have a new well drilled. Her old well collapsed due to an excessive amount of rain, rendering it useless and unable to function. However, due to the client’s low-income status, she was unable to afford the cost of drilling a new well on her own without causing serious financial hardship.

Currently, SERCAP’s Housing Department is assisting an extremely low-income, elderly widow in the City of Suffolk, VA, to repair her roof. The client has lived in her home for 45 years, and recently began experiencing trouble with her roof. However, due to the client’s extremely low-income status, she was unable to afford the cost of the roof repairs on her own.

Currently, SERCAP’s Regional Department is assisting SERCAP’s Housing Department by providing Technical Support to address a serious storm-water issue affecting one of SERCAP’s Indoor Plumbing & Rehabilitation (IPR) Housing projects. The household, located in the Eagle Rock Area of Botetourt County, VA, is located on a hillside near a gully. The gully, while natural in origin, had been worked on by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) years ago, when they installed a drainage catchment and underground drain pipe to channel water from the gully, safely underneath and away from the main road. Over time, the entrance to the pipe has partially collapsed and become buried, causing water from rain events to back up and erode away the hillside supporting the front of the house.

Currently, SERCAP’s Facilities Development Grant Program is working with the Community of Clover in Halifax County, VA to acquire and install two new propane fueled and permanently located generators. The generators will provide emergency and uninterrupted electrical power to the drinking water well supply system and water storage tank site, and will power all operations for a 60,000 gallons-per-day biological wastewater treatment plant that serves the community. The elevated Water Storage Tank in Clover, which provides drinking water and fire suppression capacity and maintains system pressure for the community, is also the site for the County’s Fire and Rescue emergency radio, siren system, and communications system. The site includes a local broadband service that supports communications for the supervision and data management of the community’s Water and Wastewater Facilities.

Recently, SERCAP’s Certified CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) Loan Fund assisted a Low-Income family of two (2), an elderly woman and her adult son (who is a Veteran) living in Bedford County, VA, to have their individual household well repaired. The clients were experiencing difficulties with their well running dry and needing it to be properly sealed (through a process called Hydro-fracking). However, due to the clients’ low-income status, they were unable to afford the cost of these necessary repairs on their own.

In the Fall of 2016, SERCAP’s Housing Department was awarded the Housing Rehabilitation Specialist Contract for the Highway 49 Skipwith Housing Rehabilitation Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Project in Mecklenburg County, VA. SERCAP’s Housing Team has been diligently working with the community over the past three (3) years, and once the project is fully finished, SERCAP will have completed housing rehabilitation and/or substantial reconstruction for 16 Households (impacting 27 low-to-moderate income individuals).

Since becoming a HUD approved Local Housing Counseling Agency (LHCA) in 2012, SERCAP’s Housing Counseling Program has served hundreds of clients and provided a variety of Housing Counseling and Financial Literacy services. During the Summer of 2019, SERCAP’s Housing Counseling Program hosted two (2) Fair Housing Workshops, one on June 26, 2019 and one on August 21, 2019, at the agency’s headquarters in downtown Roanoke, VA.

Recently, SERCAP’s Essential & Critical Needs Program and certified CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) Loan Fund Department teamed up to assist a low-income, family of five (5) in Caroline County, VA, with the installation of a new Septic System. The clients recently began experiencing difficulty with their old septic system and learned that an entirely new system needed to be installed. However, due to their low-income status, the cost of replacing the Septic System on their own would have caused significant financial hardship.

Recently, SERCAP’s Certified CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) Loan Fund assisted a Low-Income family of two (2), an elderly woman and her granddaughter, living in Bland County, VA, to have a new individual household well drilled. The clients were experiencing difficulties with their old well, as it was producing muddy water that was not potable. However, due to the clients’ low-income status, they were unable to afford the whole cost of having a new well drilled on their own.

Fortunately, SERCAP was able to step-in and provide financial assistance, through a low-interest (1%), affordable loan, which covered 100% of the cost of drilling the new well. SERCAP’s Loan Fund provided an Individual Household Well Loan of $11,000.00, and now the clients once again have reliable access to clean, safe potable water in their home.

Currently, SERCAP is providing Housing Rehabilitation Specialist Services to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Construction Improvement Grant (CIG) Project for the East Atlantic Street Neighborhood in the City of Emporia, VA. SERCAP was selected as the Housing Rehabilitation Specialist for the project in late 2016, and has been diligently working to complete the rehabilitation of 16 investor-owned housing units and two owner-occupied housing units for the past two+ years.

Currently, SERCAP’s Regional Program is working with the very small Town of Phenix in Charlotte County, VA, in order to assist them in improving their outdated and deteriorating water system. The Town of Phenix has a population of 226 residents, 60% of whom are low-income individuals, and 32.3% of whom are Senior Citizens. Previously, SERCAP’s Facilities Development Grant program funded a Professional Engineering Report (PER) for the system, which suggested that the total project cost to upgrade the system would be nearly $1.8 Million. However, securing funding for a System Improvement Project at that level for such a small customer-base is a very challenging proposition for the Town.