Last week, we celebrated a huge milestone: 600 Philadelphia homes have been repaired through Restore, Repair, Renew (RRR) since the program’s inception in 2019.
That’s 600 Philadelphia families who ensured their homes were safe, warm, and dry for years to come.
The RRR program’s low-interest (3%) fixed rate loan is accessible to residents with a household income of up to 120% of the area median and with a credit score of 580. For perspective, market-rate home equity loans charge around $1,500 in fees and 8% interest. Borrowers can owe thousands more—about three times as much—in interest than with an RRR loan.
Since 2019, Philadelphia homeowners have accessed more than $18 million in loans offered by participating banks.
‘I’m not sure what I could have done’
Renee Blake is one of the 600 Philadelphia homeowners who have repaired their homes through RRR. Renee, who bought her first home in 2019 after going through Clarifi’s pre-purchase counseling, soon discovered her shower was leaking into the kitchen. After several attempts to fix it on her own, she realized the bathroom needed to be completely gutted and rebuilt.
She reached back out to Clarifi last year—this time to apply for the RRR program, which offers low-interest loans between $2,500 and $50,000 for home repair projects.
Clarifi is a proud partner of RRR by administering the program. The nonprofit helped Renee apply to and qualify for her RRR loan.
“To be honest, without Clarifi and without this program, I’m not sure what I could have done with this situation,” Blake said during a press event on May 16 outside her home, after successfully completing her bathroom renovation.
‘Building wealth, preserving wealth, transferring wealth’
Clarifi doesn’t just offer assistance with RRR applications: It’s a one-stop shop for anyone with housing and financial goals and challenges. Clarifi helps homeowners identify and overcome barriers to qualifying for RRR, such as liens, tangled titles, and low credit scores. The organization also offers construction 101 workshops to prepare people for managing their home repair projects and working with contractors.
“Although we do have, in the current state, some amazing programs in the City of Philadelphia, we have left a whole lot of people behind, because many of them are not eligible to receive assistance and supports from programs we have,” said Mayor Cherelle Parker, who helped create the RRR program when she was a City Council member. “We have to make sure it (RRR) is readily available.”
RRR is a critical part of the Mayor’s H.O.M.E Initiative and was designed to fill resource gaps, especially for low-to-moderate income Philadelphians who make too much for assistance like the Basic Systems Repair Program but still struggle to access traditional loans.
More than 86% of occupied homes in Philadelphia were built before 1980, making access to capital for home repairs that much more imperative. It would cost $3.7 billion to complete all the home repairs across the Philadelphia Metro.
“We’re in the business of building wealth, preserving wealth, and transferring wealth,” said Jill Roberts, Vice President of Advocacy at Clarifi. “So if you are trying to sort your finances, or if you want to repair your home, or you’re trying to figure out what is available to you to become financially resilient, start with us.”
RRR isn’t too good to be true: It’s what Philadelphia families deserve.
“What better symbol of generational wealth than being able to say, ‘I own this and truly mean it’?” said Cykhira Walton, Senior Advisor for Councilmember Anthony A. Phillips (Ninth District). “This program has helped our neighbors lay down roots and secure futures. These are our teachers, our city workers, our healthcare professionals, people who keep Philadelphia running every single day.”
Let’s continue keeping our blocks beautiful, our families housed, and our homes secure.
