Harrisburg, PA − Julio 8, 2022 − Today State Senator Nikil Saval (D–Philadelphia) announced a $125-million appropriation in Pennsylvania’s 2022–2023 budget to establish his groundbreaking Whole-Home Repairs Program. He issued the following statement:

“Every person has a right to a home that is safe—a home that is healthy. But right now, across our Commonwealth, hundreds of thousands of households are denied this right simply because they don’t have access to the resources they need to repair their homes.

“For decades, urban, suburban, and rural communities alike have suffered from disinvestment from their government at all levels. The creation of the Whole-Home Repairs Program in this year’s budget changes that.

“This is a hard-fought victory for every Pennsylvanian who is struggling to stay in their home. This program is a direct investment in our people and our communities, whose needs have been ignored, and whose voices have gone unheard. At this time of protracted hardship across the Commonwealth, we have seized a historic opportunity to move the needle on our housing crisis—permanently.

“What we have done sets a new standard. Today we have a program to preserve housing across the Commonwealth, to stabilize our communities, to prevent blight and abandonment and displacement, to build a skilled workforce to keep our state at the forefront of the industries of the future, and to protect the place that is most dear to all of us: home. I’m committed to fighting for every household to have what they need to make their home whole.

“The United States needs a model for how to preserve its aging housing stock and create new jobs, and with the Whole-Home Repairs Program, Pennsylvania has positioned itself as a leader.”

The Whole-Home Repairs Program is the first of its kind in the nation, creating a one-stop shop for Pennsylvanians to repair and weatherize their homes by providing up to $50,000 for habitability repairs and energy efficiency upgrades, allocating support staff to ensure applicants receive the help they need in the order they need it, and funding pre-apprenticeship and training programs to build a skilled local workforce capable of meeting the growing demand.

Pennsylvania has some of the oldest housing stock in the country, and the data show the human impact: one out of every four Pennsylvania voters lives in a home that needs a critical repair, while one out of every three describes their utility bills as “unaffordable.” And if confronted with the need to make a critical repair to their home, nearly half of Pennsylvanians say they would struggle to afford it.

The Whole-Home Repairs program was championed by a bipartisan, bicameral group of Pennsylvania legislators committed to taking action to combat Pennsylvania’s ongoing housing crisis. Senator Saval, who serves as Democratic Chair of the Senate’s Urban Affairs and Housing Committee, introduced the legislation in the Senate with the entire Democratic Caucus and five Republican Senators as co-sponsors. State Representatives Sara Innamorato (D–Allegheny), Rick Krajewski (D–Philadelphia), and Jordan Harris (D–Philadelphia), who serves as the House Democratic Whip, introduced and advanced companion legislation in the House.

The creation of the Whole-Home Repairs Program is the direct result of tireless organizing by a powerful coalition of housing and energy advocates, community organizers, and Pennsylvania residents. This $125-million appropriation marks an unprecedented investment in housing by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. 

The campaign for the Whole-Home Repairs Program was a collective effort of the following organizations:

5ª Plaza

ACCIÓN-Vivienda

Berks se levanta

Comité de Acción del Condado de Carbon para los Servicios Humanos

Consejo de Aire Limpio

Comisión de Oportunidades Económicas

Agencia de Acción Comunitaria del Condado de Delaware, Inc.

Proyecto de Justicia Comunitaria

Servicios Jurídicos Comunitarios de Filadelfia

Ebony Suns Enterprises LLC

Agencia de Coordinación de la Energía (ECA)

Franklin Energía

Iniciativa Hogares Verdes y Saludables, Inc

Green Building United

Hábitat para la Humanidad del condado de Bucks

Hábitat para la Humanidad del Valle de Lehigh

Hábitat para la Humanidad de los condados de Montgomery y Delaware

Hábitat para la Humanidad Filadelfia

HELP: MLP

Grupo de Consenso de Hill District

Alianza para la Vivienda de Pensilvania

Servicio Judío para Familias y Niños de la Gran Filadelfia

Alianza para la Eficiencia Energética de Keystone

Lancaster Líbano Hábitat para la Humanidad

Lancaster se levanta

Lehigh Valley se pone en pie

MaGrann Asociados

Hacer la AP de carretera

Fondo Nacional para la Mejora de la Energía

National Nurse-Led Care Consortium

Consejo para la Defensa de los Recursos Naturales

Vecinos contra las plantas de gas

Corporación de Acción Comunitaria de Northern Tier

Climatización del condado de Northumberland

Omicelo se preocupa

Una Pensilvania

PennFuture

Pensilvania se levanta

Proyecto de Ley de Servicios Públicos de Pensilvania

Desarrollo de sistemas de rendimiento

Asociación de Corporaciones de Desarrollo Comunitario de Filadelfia (PACDC)

Autoridad Energética de Filadelfia

Coalición para el Control del Alquiler de Filadelfia

Philly DSA

Philly Thrive

Médicos por la Responsabilidad Social Pensilvania

Grupo de Reinversión Comunitaria de Pittsburgh

POWER Interconfesional

Alianza para la Preservación

Reconstruyendo Juntos Filadelfia

Reconstruir juntos Pittsburgh

Recuperar Filadelfia

Servicios Jurídicos Regionales de Vivienda

Viviendas de Autodeterminación de Pensilvania

Sección de Pensilvania de Sierra Club

Movimiento Amanecer Pensilvania

Movimiento Amanecer Filadelfia

Centro Jurídico de Interés Público

Third Act

Trehab

Mujeres por un medio ambiente sano