Zoë’s Wings gives East Temple residents help with home repairs
By FRED AFFLERBACH | Photos by BECKY STINEHOUR and contributed
Ka-Pow! In early 2019, the electrical transformer outside Lila and Hurley Jackson’s East Temple home exploded and their roof caught fire. Although firefighters extinguished the blaze, the Jackson’s home where they lived for more than 30 years was left with a leaky roof and soggy walls. And because her husband, a retired truck driver, is battling cancer, Lila kept busy emptying buckets of water when it rained. Then a knock at the door and a woman with wings, Zoë’s Wings Foundation, Inc., stepped into help.
Zoë Grant founded the nonprofit, Zoë’s Wings, in Temple almost two years ago because she recognized that many homes on the east side were suffering the ravages of time. Working with a list of homeowners seeking repairs provided by the city, Grant began interviewing people such as Lila Jackson to see what she could do to help.
She found folks living in homes with an array of issues: leaky pipes and roofs, all sorts of electrical problems, an entire room that had become detached from the house, no A/C, no hot water, or no water at all. At least one homeowner coped by buying bottled water and taking showers at a neighbor’s home. Some residents simply moved out, leaving vacant homes to suffer further neglect.
Services provided by Zoë’s Wings are free, but candidates for relief must own their own home and be current on property taxes. Grant says many homeowners are locked into mortgage payments with high interest rates because they have little or bad credit, which leaves them no money for repairs and maintenance. Thus, the cycle of neighborhoods going downhill perpetuates.
Although Grant, who works in civil engineering, grew up in Denver, her parents hail from Temple. After they died, she moved here to be near family members. She settled into a comfortable house in North Temple, but recently bought a home on the east side because she said it’s important to embed herself in the community she’s trying to help.
“We’re about motivating and encouraging people in our community to do better with their homes. We’re trying to build up the East Side,” Grant said. “The East Side is a little neglected and it’s been that way for years. Demographics haven’t changed. It’s still the low-income people. It’s still the minority people. It still needs help. I want to encourage people, to let them know their dream of owning their own home isn’t gone.”
Temple Neighborhood Services Manager Nancy Glover says there is a high need for revitalizing many neighborhoods — 19 percent of the city’s population lives below the poverty line and many reside in East Temple. When people come to the city for resources it can’t provide, Glover often refers them to Zoë’s Wings.
“She really has a heart for people. She really wants to help,” Glover said. “She not only addresses the problems with the homes, she also tries to use her contractors as an opportunity for people to pull themselves up out of poverty and learn different construction trades. It’s a holistic way of trying to address the overall problems and not just one thing. She’s not looking for a Band-Aid solution.”
Vicki DeLeon, a single mother with two boys, ages 7 and 13, works full time at a finance company. She bought her East Temple home in 2004 and paid it off in 2011. Although she has put her “heart and soul” into her home, she says there’s always something that needs attention. Working with Zoë’s Wings, she got the bugs in her electrical system worked out and a new A/C window unit installed. Workers were scheduled to build a banister on an interior stairway, but that was put on hold when the coronavirus pandemic hit. Looking for a way to give back to her community, DeLeon joined its board of directors. She says help is sometimes only a phone call away.
“There’s resources out here,” DeLeon said. “Don’t give up. Don’t feel like what you have achieved isn’t enough, like you’ll never achieve that dream house. Keep going for it. Never be embarrassed to ask for help. That’s the only way you can get ahead sometimes.”
Doris See lives in the same house her grandparents inhabited; an ironing board that folds up into a wall and a built-in telephone table in the hallway stand testament to the home’s age. She fell and crushed her hip several years ago and can’t work. It was painful getting in and out of the tub — she has no shower. Living on monthly disability payments, a new bathroom was mostly a dream. But a phone call from Zoë’s Wings changed everything. Now she has a new bathroom floor and, for the first time ever, a shower.
Although repairing one home at a time can have a positive and cumulative effect on a community, Zoë’s Wings aims to fly higher. The nonprofit plans to build an affordable housing neighborhood on 10 acres. Several acres have already been purchased and negotiations on 14 lots are underway.
The coronavirus pandemic has thrown a monkey wrench in some work Zoë’s Wings has scheduled. Workers can still perform repairs outside, but indoor repairs are on hold. Meanwhile, the never-ending chore of raising money and awareness continues. Zoë’s Wings depends on the generosity of individuals, grants from businesses such as Walmart ($30,000), and the city of Temple ($13,800). But the money never goes far enough.
Back at Lila and Hurley Jackson’s home, things are looking up.
“They put a new roof on my house, and it didn’t cost me anything. They patched up the sides where squirrels and things were coming in; they patched up the edges,” Lila Jackson said. “It was a blessing to our family. A whole new roof. Oh, my goodness, yes.”
HOW TO HELP
To learn more about Zoë’s Wings and how you can help, go to: https://zoeswings.org.
