Interfaith Housing Services is always looking for ways to thank our volunteers and donors for their kindness and generosity, but nothing we say or do adequately expresses the heartfelt appreciation our our clients. Here, in their own words, are their stories and and their thanks to all of you who working together helped make their future a little brighter.

     "My porch was deteriorating; there were holes in it and it was falling in, but I couldn’t afford to fix it. My social security check doesn’t go very far; mostly it goes to pay for all these prescription medicines.
     I don’t know what my special needs daughter and I would have done without Interfaith Housing. I don’t worry anymore. My little grandchildren can go out there and play and there’s no problem or concern. I appreciate it greatly...I really do. I love it, I truly do."                                                           
                                              Evelyn

                                                                                                        BEFORE          AFTER

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     "When the Reno County Department of Aging referred us to IHS Joseph had just had two knee replacements and I had just had two back surgeries and was suffering with my arthritis. We were fighting to keep out of the nursing home.  The bathroom tub was too tall to get in and out of it.  I had fallen 23 times and with our fixed income we couldn’t do anything about it. I also had a disc fused in my back that prevents me from being able to lift myself up.  You don’t realize what you lose and what it takes from you.
     The work IHS did for us  it’s like living in a palace or hotel.  It’s so much better then before. It’s a difference of night and day.
     In the long run, people helping people is what it’s all about.   Keeping people in their own house is a great assistance.  I’ve always believed you pay it forward when you live.  One helping another brings energy into the world.  I definitely appreciate the help we’ve gotten.  The bathroom is simply wonderful and the contractors that did it were wonderful too."                                                                Evelyn

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     "Eighteen months ago, my daughter Nen was born. She’s really sick and has been in and out of the hospital a lot.   Nen has all sorts of medical problems: Asperger’s Syndrome, hypoglycemia, and failure to thrive.   Where I was living before there were some problems with repairs, rodents and my family needed a larger house but I couldn’t afford more than what we were already paying. Interfaith Housing rents this four bedroom house for $504 and I was paying $495 for a two bedroom before.  I’m not working (taking care of Nen is full time work) so all I have is social security and child support to live on.  
     Some months we’re in Kansas City at the hospital and can’t make the rent payment at the first of the month.   Most other landlords charge $20 if rent is not paid by the third and then $5 per
additional day.  IHS understands my situation.  They’ve been very flexible with me and that helps a lot. If it wasn’t for IHS, my three kids and I would be living with my mom and that wouldn’t work."                           Brandy

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     Anna, a single mother of 3, was living with her younger sister in a 3 bedroom house with a total of nine occupants before she was referred to Interfaith Housing Services. Leaving an abusive relationship and renting from Interfaith Housing gave Anna a sense of taking control of her life.
     Interfaith Housing began working with her, providing financial classes, assisting her to repair her credit, and walking her through the process of purchasing her first home through the First Time Home Ownership Program (1HOP). Anna says “IHS was wonderful in helping me to budget, to repair my credit, and to rebuild my self-esteem.”
      Anna lived in her first home for several years before being granted legal guardianship of a child in need.  When they outgrew her first home, she used the equity to purchase a larger home more adequate for her growing family.
     Anna says “without Interfaith, I would have never had the confidence to get my own house.  When others wanted to judge me for being a single mom, for expecting me to sit at home on welfare, IHS gave me a chance.  That extra bit of confidence of being a 23-year-old single mother, buying a house was a re-start in my life; it helped to give me the confidence to go back to school.” Anna earned a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and an Associates Degree in Accounting.
     What makes Anna such a great testimony is that she could have sat at home and used the many social programs available as a hand-out; instead she used them for a helping-hand to turn her life around and move in a more positive direction. She is a joy, and speaks passionately of how people have so many options at their disposal.  Her children do not say the words “I can’t.” 
     She utilized the Interfaith Housing Programs, providing her a clean, safe house to rent while she got back on her feet and was able to save for her first home. Anna wishes to simply say “thank you” to the staff, volunteers and donors of IHS.  She says “you will never know what a difference your time, energy and finances made in my life and in the lives of many others.”  
                                                                                                                         Anna

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     “Things were pretty bad: the siding was falling off my house. I couldn’t get into my own bathroom; I had to leave my wheelchair at the door and crawl to the tub and toilet. It was drafty and cold in the winter; bad flooring…really everything was bad.
     Thanks to the work done by IHS I can take my wheelchair in the bathroom; I’m able to get in and out easily. It isn’t drafty--everything is much better.
     Thank you for the accessibility, dignity and pride that you have given back to me in my home!”          
                                                                                      Doug

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     When the Department of Aging referred us to Interfaith Housing Joseph was undergoing radiation for cancer and I had three laser surgeries and had lost my sight completely. Our kids were concerned about us getting in and out of the tub and had contacted them to see what could be done.  We didn’t want to give up our tub but they didn’t think we could handle it anymore.
     If it weren’t for IHS we’d probably be in a nursing home.   The shower and ramp has kept us in our home, which is good…VERY GOOD.   We didn’t realize how much we needed it till we had to stay at a hotel during the ice storm.   Joseph took a bath in the tub there and if there hadn’t been a toilet there to pull on he would not have been able to get out.  If we had kept the tub like we had wanted we would have had to call the fire department to get us out and then sell everything and move into a nursing home.  The ramp has also been a blessing. Having to have Joseph support me and then having to feel my way down those stairs was next to impossible.  Now all he needs to do is wheel me down the ramp!   Getting old is no fun but being able to be in my own home has been important.
     Thanks so much to everyone who has helped us stay in our home as long as possible.  Being put into nursing home takes you away from your possessions, independence--just everything. Everything you’ve done and can do is so appreciated.”                                                                        Evelyn

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