Paradise homes get makeovers in Fort Mill

Dorothy White had her kitchen in her living room Thursday, a dozen strangers bustling about and a clear line of sight through the vinyl floor to the grass beneath a covered patio out back.

She smiled. She had her eyes on Saturday night when work is expected to be finished.

White moved to the corner of Joe Louis and Coolidge streets in Fort Mill in 1985. Since then, she lost her mother and raised and handful of children. She welcomed grandchildren. They cover several states now, with few close enough to help in an emergency.

With two bad knees, walking out the back steps or even stepping into the bathtub could create a problem.

"If I fall and I'm by myself, yeah," White said.

Volunteers started rebuilding the kitchen floor of White's home Thursday. In three days they plan to put in a step-in tub, a toilet and a sink.

At four sites in the Paradise community and one nearby, volunteers offered electrical work, cabinet installation, ramp construction and more.

"Our goal is to show the community that we care about them," said Shaun Barnes, project organizer with Comporium. "It's more about making the houses more usable, and a little more safe."

Last year Comporium, its Comporium Pioneers Club and Habitat for Humanity of York County joined together for repairs in Paradise and the Roosevelt community in Clover. They partnered again this year. About 115 volunteers pledged three days working in Fort Mill.

"I don't think these volunteers realize what they're doing," said Stefanie Barnette, community outreach director with Habitat. "They're doing life-changing work for these families.

About 60 people attended a meeting on the project, many having heard of work done last year. Habitat received 35 applications for repairs and worked with Comporium to choose five projects they could complete. All homeowners are seniors. Some are disabled.

While interior work isn't as flashy as building a new home and isn't as visible from the road, Barnette said the work is just as necessary for building up communities.

"The Habitat model is shifting away from the whole, ‘let's build a house and move on,’" she said. "This type of work allows people to stay in their homes. Home ownership stabilizes a community. There's more than just these four walls."

Ray Thompson, who lives where Berry Street meets Joe Louis, is getting new windows, insulation, an access door out back and work on his porch. These are all projects he isn't able to do on his own.

"These are a lot of older homes," he said. "I appreciate them doing it."

One homeowner had extensive enough repairs, mainly electrical wiring, that she had to leave during the renovations. The rest stayed and watched as strangers poured hours and sweat into repairs.

White has a ramp running the length of her house that volunteers put in last year, which kept her off the old wooden steps out back ever since.

She doesn't know what problems she avoided in that time because of the repairs, or how much the new work will help. She just knows, come Saturday night, her new bathroom and kitchen will be well worth the stove and refrigerator parked beside her sofa.

"I really want to thank them for what they're doing for me," White said. "They're real nice people."

This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 2:37 PM with the headline "Paradise homes get makeovers in Fort Mill."