Albemarle Housing Improvement Program runs fiscal year end campaign

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - A non-profit in the area is working to keep people safe through home improvement work. They are having to double down on fundraising efforts to keep up with demand.

The Albemarle Housing Improvement Program (AHIP) is a non-profit that works to fix problems in homes for their clients that can’t always afford to pay upfront.

Over the last 45 years they’ve helped clients with things from simple plumbing fixes to more complicated work like septic tank back-ups or deck rebuilding.

“Our emergency repairs can be anywhere from a very easy low monetary fix to up to $10,000 and for the clients that we serve that’s just money that they can’t afford to take away from their basic needs from day to day,” said AHIP director of development, Ashley Patel.

AHIP recently hit a road block they are now working around.

“We currently are having our community campaign which is for our fiscal year end fundraiser,” Patel said.

AHIP’s emergency repair funds ran out over the last year do to unprecedented circumstances.

“We continue to get calls every single week for emergency repairs so this year our fiscal year end campaign is going to be totally focused on funding for our emergency repair program,” said Patel.

Their fundraising goal is $150,000 by June 30. While folks at AHIP agree this is a tall task, they have an opportunity that may make it easier to accomplish.

“We have two anonymous donors who are willing to give us $75,000 as a match to hit our $150,000 goal,” said Patel.

Now AHIP is calling on people who live in the area to financially help them continue to make a difference for their clients.

“It’s so critical that we have the funding in place that we can answer these calls in a timely manner and help keep our clients safe at home,” Patel said.

AHIP already has some donors but they say they still have a long way to go. If you’re looking to get involved, click here.

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