HOUS (Housing Outreach for Unitarian Souls)
All Souls members are proud of our efforts to rehabilitate housing in Tulsa. All Souls is by far the leading church in Tulsa to participate in building and renovating houses, and is recognized in the UU denomination for this work.
HOUS has been building new houses or renovating old houses in low income areas of Tulsa since 1993, with most of the recent activity in the Jackson school district. A deteriorated house is purchased from HUD by Community Action Project-Tulsa, formerly Project Get Together. These agencies supply materials and trade skills and All Souls supplies the good hard work to make the house like new.
Our fourth house with Community Action Project, at 1591 N. Knoxville, was a real achievement. It had some structural deterioration that needed correcting and the layout allowed us to add a second bath. The first work was to reinforce floor joists, remove all windows for new windows and put sheet rock on damaged ceilings. Next we built the new bath, removed the kitchen cabinets, created washer and dryer space, and started painting. There was so much wall preparation and painting that it seemed it would take forever. To complete the renovation, 1,874 volunteer hours were contributed by 50 volunteers. In addition to our free labor adding value to the house, a federal grant was received for the All Souls volunteers contribution amounting to $56,220 for Community Action Project's housing program. The project was completed in less than six months, and the house was immediately sold and occupied.
We always have needs for skilled volunteers but anyone who can pick up a paintbrush or who wants to learn about house repair would find this to be a very rewarding project.
Normal work days are Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9:00am to 4:00pm. If you'd like to participate or want more information, call All Souls, or send an email.