How Do You Repair a Home on $936 a Month? | Rachel Nelson, Home Repairs for Good

On today's show I sat down with Rachel Nelson, executive director of Home Repairs for Good, an Indianapolis nonprofit that helps older adults (62+) and people with disabilities living on very low incomes (about 30% AMI) stay safely in their homes through free critical repairs inside Marion County's 465 loop.

Nelson explains how the organization began in 2013 as NeighborLink Indianapolis when founder Dave Withy and friends did word-of-mouth repairs, often preventing citations, fines, liens, and potential loss of homes. She details their scale (hundreds of repairs annually, including citation-related work), volunteer pathways from low-skill projects to trained gutter and in-home "handy" teams with background checks, and funding through donors, churches, team volunteer donations, and paid subcontracting.

Our conversation also covers workforce development through BY Plus with paid jobsite experience, plus a Growth Program that earns revenue via contractor work to sustain free repairs, and future plans to expand aging-ready home modifications.

If you like this episode and want to hear more Get IN. episodes where I interview Hoosiers making a difference, visit getindiana.com/podcast.

You are going to learn about:

- What Home Repairs for Good Is and Who They Serve

- Volunteer Opportunities with Home Repairs for Good

- How Home Repairs for Good Is Funded

- How Home Repairs for Good Helps with Workforce Development

Check out these great clips from the show:

00:00 Mission And Impact

00:27 Guest Introduction: Rachel Nelson, Home Repairs for Good