December 2022 - New NGO Trains Women to Repair (and Keep) Their Homes

Silver Spring, MD, December 6, 2022.  Several women of different ages and backgrounds sit in a partially-deconstructed house in Silver Spring, paying close attention to their instructor. Perched on a (disconnected) toilet, construction expert Delaine explains the difference between two kinds of snake, how to assemble a P-trap, unclog a drain, and other mysteries of home plumbing. Soon the women themselves grapple with plumbing tools, laughing about the many challenges of fix-it-yourself. They owe their training to AbodesJoy, a new NGO launched in October 2022, the first DC-area hands-on program training women to repair and maintain their homes, with the aim of building confidence and community as well as literacy toward home equity and financial mobility. A project of Branches Realty, AbodesJoy is driven by the belief that all individuals and families deserve secure, safe, and welcoming living spaces. 

Founded by three women with backgrounds in architecture, real estate, and NGO management, AbodesJoy’s first Women’s Home Repair Training Program for female homeowners and renters from under-represented and under-resourced communities began its free monthly trainings in October. A cohort of 12 women are acquiring basic construction skills that will allow them to complete repair and renovation projects in their own homes, beginning with carpentry and plumbing and continuing with electrical work, drywall, tile, design basics, and optimizing living space. These skills will allow the women to improve their living spaces and, if homeowners, improve the worth of their homes and build equity. In turn, graduates of the program will become part of the AbodesJoy Construction Corps and give back to the community as a volunteer team participating in community restoration and renovation projects for other under-resourced homeowners.

“The data show that DC and the Maryland suburbs suffer a severe and deepening housing crisis, exacerbated by COVID-19,” said AbodesJoy Executive Director Ruti Kadish. “Nowhere is this more true than in already under-resourced and stressed communities in which residents struggle to maintain the upkeep of their homes and build equity in these homes. Many of these households are headed by single female homeowners, who deserve a chance to gain the skills to maintain their homes and improve the value of the surrounding communities.”

With a focus on communities of color, the initial course is teaching basic construction skills in six 5-hour workshops over a 6-month period. In a “sample” single-family property in East Silver Spring owned by AbodesJoy Board member and owner of Branches Realty Licia Galinsky, participants receive their own tool kits, learn how to use the tools, and receive guidance from experts eager to contribute to the program. 

The concept of AbodesJoy was born last winter as Kadish, Galinsky, and AbodesJoy Board President Saskia van Groningen found themselves reflecting on the impacts of the pandemic and a shared desire to help make life a bit easier for the people in their community. Galinsky, who has developed a knack for home renovation and repair over the years, shared that she gets great joy and satisfaction from home improvement projects. If something around the house needs fixing, chances are she knows how to fix it–and if she doesn’t, she will take it apart, learn how it works, and then put it back together again. Galinsky recognizes, however, that home repairs can be extraordinarily daunting for many women. “These are things that most women simply aren’t taught how to do,” she noted. “Our hope is that the skills participants acquire will give them the confidence to tackle their own home repair projects and also equip them with the knowledge to make well-informed decisions when hiring others to repair or renovate their homes.” 

van Groningen, an architect and real estate agent with over four decades of residential architectural design expertise, specializes in helping clients with renovation guidance. She will be facilitating a workshop on design and space optimization for AbodesJoy in March. “I am so grateful to be able to contribute to this work, which I believe has the potential to have a really positive impact on our participants and the community as a whole,” van Groningen shared. “We hope not only to empower our participants to improve and maintain the safety and upkeep of their homes, but also to inspire them to find creative ways to ensure that their living spaces bring them as much comfort, peace, and joy as possible.”

“My house is old, I’m single, and I want to be able to talk to plumbers and other repair professionals in an educated way,” said program participant Kendra R. “Like a lot of single women, I feel vulnerable to being overcharged or oversold by repair people who assume I don’t know anything.”

“I would like to be a home buyer but I find the process intimidating,” added Joyce W., another program participant. “I want to change that for my daughter and address my feelings of inadequacy by example. I learned about AbodesJoy when I finished a financial literacy course; this is the next step. I have basic knowledge about saving money to buy a home and I’m tired of being taken advantage of because I’m a single woman.”

“I turn to YouTube often when I want to learn how to do things around my space, but having experienced instructors give me hands-on training has been so much better than watching endless tutorials,” shared Kalisha O. “As a prospective homeowner, I feel confident knowing that I won't have to call an industry pro for minor home repairs that I can tackle myself. The skills I am learning are also benefiting my friends and family as I help them with small projects in their homes.”

To find out more about AbodesJoy, support its mission, or learn now to enroll in the next training cohort, visit its website at abodesjoy.org or contact us at connect@abodesjoy.org.