By Michelle Bliss
12-24-10 – This winter, many elderly and low-income residents don't have proper heating in their homes to stay warm. The Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry, or WARM, has been busy trying to keep up with those crucial home repairs this holiday season.
WARM has seen a recent spike in applications for heating repairs.
Executive Director Jeanie Skane says she was especially troubled by a note from an elderly woman living in downtown Wilmington.
"We have a place on the application where they list the repairs that they need and under her section it said: Please help me get my heat fixed. Last year I used my hairdryer to keep warm.' And we just found that unacceptable that people right down the street from us are living in that condition and suffering."
Skane says that one in five homes in North Carolina is considered to be substandard, meaning that there could be holes in the roof or floor which could lead to leaks and rotting wood.
Find out more about WARM.