Nonprofit aims to rebuild Chester through affordable housing and home repairs

Leslie Brakefield believes in charity for others, something she draws from her faith.

With more than 30 years as a North Chester volunteer firefighter, she has dedicated her life to saving others. That passion extended to i58, a Chester-based nonprofit that builds affordable housing and assists in home repairs.

As the nonprofit’s director of development, Brakefield’s goal is to aid low-income individuals in finding stability and purpose, but she needs community support. Some of that help came Monday during a fundraiser at the Chester Golf Club.

While only raising a quarter of her $20,000 goal, Brakefield is still optimistic about finding donors.

“I want to find someone with the passion to serve and give back to the community,” Brakefield said, now 52. “Our ultimate goal is to connect the community with other organizations. We hope to find other avenues to secure the remaining funds.”

When started in 2016, i58 had the idea of rebuilding Chester through their mission using Isaiah chapter 58 as a model. That scripture can be interpreted as his people need to take care of those in need, then his light will shine.

According to its website, i58 “takes a holistic approach to neighborhood development.

“We build new, affordable, energy-efficient homes on forfeited land to reclaim properties, rehab homes for low-income homeowners to improve living conditions, and train homeowners to maintain their properties as assets to their neighborhoods.”

i58, which is mostly staffed with volunteers, serves Chester, Union, York, and Lancaster counties and also supports first-time homeowners. Additional funds will support future home projects and renovations for low-income individuals, Brakefield said.

“While building houses in Chester, we realized many homes needed repairs,” she said. “We created a home repair program within those five counties, putting up more than 60 roofs.”

Through a partnership with York Technical College, in Rock Hill, i58 builds houses using its students. It gives students a hands-on opportunity to learn about construction, how to build sustainable housing and skills they can add to their resumes.

“The golf tournament aimed to fund new projects, including housing,” said Alison Terry, Program Coordinator at York Technical College. “Every house we build is constructed by York Tech students. House construction is the backbone of our program, and we’ve been building homes, sometimes two at a time, since 2017.”

York Technical College, a major sponsor of Monday’s tournament, was also one of the 15 participating teams.

“We will continue to seek funding opportunities to improve and expand our programs,” Brakefield said.