Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 10, 1991 TAG: 9102080486
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
Five years ago, Audrey King was visited by a nurse who figured the Kings' priorities should include indoor plumbing. The nurse got them put on a Virginia Mountain Housing list to have the job done.
They're still waiting.
Virginia Mountain Housing, a non-profit housing development corporation, distributes funds through the state's Indoor Plumbing Program - most often referred to as the IPP.
Excess IPP funds are available for Radford and Montgomery and Giles counties, so the Kings' wait may be almost over.
"We're trying to get folks involved and let them know we can help them if they want it," said Chris Heslep, Virginia Mountain Housing's IPP coordinator.
Virginia Mountain Housing received $227,583 last year from the state Department of Housing and Community Development's $5 million IPP fund. So far, about eight projects in the New River Valley have been completed, but more can be done.
On the average, $10,500 has been spent on each project, leaving more than $100,000 for future projects.
And that money covers more than just indoor plumbing.
For example, if the Kings' property passes a health department inspection, the funds will provide for extra work such as electrical rewiring, new walls or making the home energy efficient, all of which may be needed to get the plumbing installed.
"I've lived without running water or an indoor bathroom for 20 years," said Audrey King, 49, from her three-room home on Bradshaw Road. "It will really be something to have it now. It's getting hard to pull the water up anymore."
The Kings, both of whom are disabled, get water for cooking and cleaning from a 65-foot-deep well in their bedroom. They use a long metal cylinder, hooked to a pulley, to pull it up.
The Kings each collect 100-percent disability from Social Security and pay $50 rent each month. Floors and ceilings are caving in, the porch is separating from the house, and a draft runs front to back. They've been in the house almost seven years.
"Before the Kings came along, this house hadn't been used in 10 years," said landlady Mary Long, who lives nearby. "We used it for storage."
Rondal King uses the outhouse in the backyard - which may be illegal, according to Heslep, because the run-off probably goes into the creek or well system.
Because of her disabilities, Audrey uses a bedside portable toilet.
Heslep knows his project can help the Kings because he's seen it help others.
Take 62-year-old Helen Phipps, for instance. She lives near Nutter's Store off Prices Fork Road and just got her new bathroom in November. The house is a renovated schoolroom dating to 1870 and had never had a bathroom before.
"I had an outhouse in the back behind the shed. I built it myself," Phipps said.
Personal hygiene was taken care of in a washtub. And many people like Phipps used "slop jars," Heslep said, before an indoor toilet came along.
When the bathroom was finished - construction took only two weeks - Phipps said the first thing she did was take a shower.
"It was wonderful," she said.
Not everyone can qualify for the assistance, said Janaka Casper, executive director of Virginia Mountain Housing.
Involvement in the IPP is either through a grant or loan, depending on an income test that is administered individually.
Some may flunk out after a health department inspection finds their property can't support a septic system.
"Expectations can be shattered," Casper said.
But Virginia Mountain Housing will work to get the problems solved. Casper said the organization is a clearinghouse for all kinds of information, and if one program doesn't work, another one may.
There are a lot of people to help.
According to 1980 Census data, the Virginia Water Project estimates there are about 50,000 homes in Virginia without any indoor plumbing. About 1,800 of them are in the New River Valley. Another 3,000 valley residents have inadequate plumbing.
"The 1990 Census will have updated figures on who has indoor plumbing now, but I suspect the numbers haven't changed drastically," said Jeff London, Virginia Mountain Housing's assistant to the executive director.
Chris Heslep is desperately trying to get people involved in the indoor-plumbing program.
Money spent now means more people will be helped. It also means Virginia Mountain Housing has a better chance at getting more money this spring when the funds are up for distribution again.
"This is the last year that the state will have this kind of money for this project," said Casper. Funding, he said, runs out on June 30. "At the next round of applications, the state will look at performance."
"And one of these days," said Heslep, "outhouses will be illegal."
Pulaski and Floyd county residents may also be placed on a waiting list at Virginia Mountain Housing. Call 382-2002 for information.
by CNB