PIKE COUNTY, Mo. — The North East Community Action Corporation (NECAC) is seeking homeowners for a program that provides free materials with participants doing the labor.

NECAC administers the USDA Rural Development Self-Help Housing program in Lincoln, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, Ralls, Shelby and Warren counties.

Participants must meet income guidelines. They will work with NECAC Construction Supervisor Howard Sommer, who will provide one-on-one instruction on the skills they need to do projects. Supplies and tools will be purchased by the program, but the labor will be contributed by the families and volunteers.

“This is a great opportunity to learn new skills and be a part of making your home more energy efficient,” Sommer said. “Upgrading the housing stock will also benefit communities.”

Applicants may qualify if they make less than the following per year: One-person household, $27,180; two-person, 36,620; three-person, $46,060; four-person, $55,500.

NECAC has been involved with Self-Help Housing since 1999. Under the original program, participants worked as a team to build each other’s homes. Forty-eight houses were constructed over about 10 years in Shelby, Monroe, Randolph and Montgomery counties.

In 2017, NECAC was awarded a $159,000 USDA grant to begin Self-Help renovations at 26 owner-occupied homes in Marion, Monroe, Pike and Ralls counties. Two years later, the agency was awarded a $365,700 USDA grant to expand the program to 56 homes in Lincoln, Montgomery, Shelby and Warren counties.

More information is available by calling NECAC at 573-324-6622.