McKeesport home gets makeover

By JEFF STITT

jstitt@yourmvi.com

After nearly 60 years of having “a great big dining room table,” Marian Hornby wasn’t sure how she felt about Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh turning a portion of her dining room into a laundry room.

But at 89, she admits it was getting tough carrying laundry baskets up and down the steep basement steps of her McKeesport home.

Thanks to Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh, Marian’s dining room is a little smaller, but she has a new laundry room and doesn’t have to scale the staircase quite as often.

And she loves it.

Hornby is grateful for other repairs and upgrades RTP made at her home, ensuring it holds value and is a safe and healthy environment.

Earlier this year, McKeesport, the McKee Point Development Corp. and RTP partnered to apply for and secured funding through the state Department of Community and Economic Development’s neighborhood assistance (NAP) and neighborhood partnership (NPP) tax-credit programs to rehab at least 100 homes in McKeesport over the next six years.

RTP was founded in 1993 through the support of The Master Builders Association of Western Pennsylvania and the Greater Pennsylvania Regional Council of Carpenters. Through volunteers and a small staff, RTP completes more than 150 physical home rehabilitation projects per year for low-income homeowners, veterans, senior citizens and people with physical disabilities.

Home rehabilitation projects in McKeesport began earlier this year, but because of coronavirus shutdowns, RTP had to put the projects on hold.

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