Back in September, a team of Habitat for Humanity volunteers began work on Beth Riley’s Loudon home, spending countless hours repairing the floors, plumbing, counters, doorways, stairwells, and exterior.

Riley learned about Habitat for Humanity when a family she knows had a house built for them by the organization two decades ago. Like most people, her knowledge of Habitat for Humanity centered around building houses from scratch. But when her home succumbed to rotting wood, frozen pipes, water damage, and dog-related disrepair, she discovered a whole new side to the organization: home repairs.

“There were people here patch-painting parts that they’d repaired to the exterior,” Riley said. “And people here with skill saws and jig saws and table saws and replacement parts. They put in a new back bathroom.”

She still can’t believe the difference their work has made to her home, in which she has lived for nearly three decades. Illness and decreased mobility impacted her ability to repair her home herself.

“The house looks so much better. It gave me peace of mind. I don’t have to worry about the place falling down,” Riley said.

The Capital Region’s affiliate of Habitat for Humanity approaches the international nonprofit’s mission to construct safe, affordable housing with a spin. While they rehabilitate and resell manufactured homes to families below market price, the brunt of their labor entails carrying out significant repairs to local homes and assisting with mostly water-related emergencies that can impact people’s quality of life in their houses.

“We believe very strongly that our mission of Habitat is not only helping homeowners get into safe and affordable housing, but we also want to help existing homeowners keep their existing housing and make that safe,” chapter president Mark Tierney said.

He became president three years ago and has sought to rebuild the chapter’s volunteer base and fundraising efforts to serve as many members of the community as possible. The current operating model of conducting repairs allows the local members of the organization to have a wider reach than they would if building new houses, especially with limited financial resources and volunteer power.

“We’re affecting people’s lives through this repair program because if you’re freezing and you have no hot water and your roof is leaking, you’re about out of hope,” treasurer Neil Donnenfeld said. “If the repair costs you $2,000, it may as well be $2 million, because they don’t have it. So that’s another way we are changing lives and giving hope and increasing the value of people’s homes.”

Habitat for Humanity reminds Tierney of a church group he used to belong to whose tagline was “We install hope.”

“I believe that’s also true of our affiliate. We install hope,” he said.

For Riley, the scope of the work needed on her house was beyond what she could carry out alone.

“There’s only so much one old lady could do,” she said. “I had my shoulders replaced in 2008 from working overhead. And while I know how to do some of the work, I no longer have the mobility, so I just used duct tape and boards and screws from whatever I could reach without having to lift too much overhead.”

This local chapter of Habitat for Humanity partners with the state Department of Correction’s Transitional Work Center to offer incarcerated people the opportunity build skills that will help them obtain jobs upon their release.

“I get quite a few guys who haven’t had any experience of pretty much any kind of skills with construction, to painting, even landscaping to construction work and demolition, building walls, reconstructing porches, roofs,” said Sgt. Dana Johnson, who oversees the program and accompanies his crew to different work sites. “So giving them those skills and watching them see that there’s a different way of life, of doing things they might not have been shown before, another way of making money, being an honest person who can get an honest job, giving back to the community, it really opens their eyes.”

The incarcerated people work alongside Habitat for Humanity volunteers on many of their jobs, allowing the organization to create an even broader impact through its projects. Tierney and Donnenfeld expressed their gratitude to the incarcerated people for the labor they contribute and the relationships they’ve built within the Habitat community. Johnson reiterated the importance of the program.

“It’s really neat to watch both organizations come together and learn from each other and respect each other. These guys are looked at a certain way. We’re trying to change that. People makes mistakes in life,” Johnson said. “I want to get people to stop looking at people who come out from being incarcerated, from prison or jail or whatever it is, and not judging them and to get to know them as people.”

Like those participating in the transitional work program, some Habitat for Humanity volunteers come in with little or no prior construction experience.

“We’ve got every imaginable tool at the job site available, and we’ll teach people how to use them. Over time, people get good,” Tierney said.

For people who want to contribute but don’t necessarily feel comfortable using tools, Tierney said there are a whole host of other ways to lend a hand, such as making sandwiches for the crew’s lunch, doing a Home Depot supply run, or helping keeping a work site clean.

The interactions with homeowners while repairs are underway lends so much meaning to the work the organization does, Donnenfeld said. He recalled one woman who, after work concluded on her home, decided to leave her house to the organization in her will to resell it below market price to a family in need.

“That’s just so powerful. It chokes me up that the people are watching us do this work, and they’re moved by it, and then they’re moved to make extraordinary gestures in order to help others,” Donnenfeld said.

Right now, the local Habitat for Humanity has a board of seven people and a small core group of volunteers, with many others jumping in to help as able. They hope to increase their volunteer base this year and eventually add a home building program to their repertoire of rehabilitation, repairs, and rapid response.

Riley will always remember the impact the organization has had on her life. She said she feels immense gratitude for the work they’ve done.

“It means the difference between selling this place for crumbs, for whatever I could get for it, and moving into senior housing versus keeping this place where I’ve been for 29 years and counting,” she said.

For more information about the Capital Region’s Habitat for Humanity affiliate, visit https://www.habitat.org/us/city/nh-capital-region-hfh.

Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@cmonitor.com