ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 26, 1996 TAG: 9612260003
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
From the street, Mary Frances Miller's painted cinder-block house looks old and dark and cramped. But inside, it's roomy and bright and cozy. The wood stove crackles cheerfully on the hearth. When a visitor arrives, Miller, 80, has the table set for tea, complete with a lace table cloth and good china.
This winter, Miller, who is widowed, was in danger of losing her comfortable home. She needed a new roof, but there was no money to pay for it.
"I thought maybe I ought to sell the house to pay for the roof," she joked. "I was desperate."
Miller has been retired for 15 years and her only income is from Social Security and a small pension. She gets $10 a month in food stamps.
When she first realized she was going to need a roof, she talked to "the food stamp lady," who referred her to Total Action Against Poverty. TAP workers told Miller about Roanoke Area Ministries' Family Advocacy program.
The program helps elderly and handicapped people with needed repairs, so they can stay in their homes, said Wendy Moore, RAM director. The families must come up with half of the money themselves, and many of them decide to pay the grant back as well, Moore said.
The cost of the new roof was $2,200. Miller took out a $1,000 loan for her share, and she was given a $1,000 grant from the Family Advocacy program. The rest of the money came from the Good Neighbors Fund, which is sponsored by The Roanoke Times, and from other sources.
At first, Moore advised Miller not to take out the loan, but when Miller assured her she could make the payments, the project was approved.
"I keep up with all the bills," Miller said, and besides, she laughed, when the loan comes due, "I'll be gone, and it'll be my children's problem."
The roofing company was paid by RAM, rather than Miller, after the completed job was inspected.
Miller got to know and like the "boys," as she calls them, from the roofing company.
"They were perfect gentlemen," she said. "I never heard one swear word."
Although she is blind in one eye, Miller's health is good, and she still drives when the weather permits. She teaches a Bible class at a nearby nursing home, and attends Westminster Presbyterian Church. When she retired from teaching Sunday school there, she was given a plaque in recognition of her 50 years of service. She also makes hundreds of biscuits for her church's yearly potluck dinner.
Although she expects to lose the sight in her other eye, "I don't spend time sitting around worrying about it," she said.
Checks made payable to the Good Neighbors Fund should be mailed to The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 1951, Roanoke 24008.
Names - but not donation amounts - of contributing businesses, individuals and organizations, as well as memorial and honorific designations, will be listed in the newspaper.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 linesby CNB