Bank donation aids NECAC housing program to renovate Pike County homes

BOWLING GREEN, Mo. — A $10,000 donation from Community State Bank of Missouri will help NECAC renovate more Pike County homes through the Self-Help Housing program.

A check presentation was held Aug. 22 at the bank on the Bowling Green square. The Self-Help program allows homeowners to upgrade their houses by doing the work themselves.

“Community State Bank recognizes this opportunity as another way of giving back to our community,” Community State Bank executive vice president and chief executive officer Paul Hill said in a press release. “People helping each other makes a stronger community. We know from experience if our community does well, everyone involved succeeds.”

 “We at NECAC are proud of our mission and so much more,” NECAC president and chief executive officer Dan Page said. “So, it gives us great satisfaction when we’re able to partner with those like Community State Bank working together to do great things in and for our communities.”

“I want to thank Community State Bank for their generous donation and their commitment to giving back to the community,” said NECAC deputy director for Housing Development programs Carla Potts, who oversees the Self-Help program. “These funds will help us work with homeowners to make needed repairs and improve the housing stock of our communities.”

NECAC also administers the USDA program in Lincoln, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Ralls, Shelby and Warren counties. Additional financial contributors and clients are being sought.

Participants must meet income guidelines. They work with NECAC construction supervisor Howard Sommer, who provides one-on-one instruction in the skills they need to do the projects. Supplies and tools are provided, but the labor is contributed by participants and volunteers.

NECAC has been involved with Self-Help since 1999. Under the original program, participants built each other’s homes. Forty-eight houses were constructed during a 10-year span in Shelby, Monroe, Randolph and Montgomery counties.

The agency received USDA Rural Development Self-Help grants for home renovations in 2017, 2019 and 2023.

 For more information, to donate or to make an application appointment, call NECAC at 573-324-6622.