A nonprofit organization in Columbia will rehabilitate five houses for individuals with disabilities after the Columbia City Council approved a roughly $70,000 grant.

Woodhaven, a nonprofit that assists individuals with disabilities, plans to upgrade homes by improving flooring, showers, bathtubs, kitchen countertops and cabinets. The grant, which is called the Community Development Block Grant, will use reallocated funds from the city’s fiscal year 2023 budget.

Woodhaven CEO Joy Sweeney said the nature of housing individuals with disabilities requires the nonprofit organization to upgrade its homes more frequently.

“There’s wheelchairs that bang into the walls and are rougher on the flooring than if it was just a family of a couple, two, three people,” Sweeney said.

One of the residents in a home that is planned to be included in the repairs, Karena Miller, will have her shower replaced due to improper water drainage that lets water into her attached bedroom.

“It doesn’t flood it, per se, but water seeps in here,” she said. “And then we’re like, ‘What’s this water doing in here?'”

The projects also include finishing a downstairs space in one of the five houses scheduled for upgrades, which will allow Woodhaven to add housing for one more person.

“We need to put a basement bedroom in that property so that they have access, as well as a nice place to rest their head,” Sweeney said.

Woodhaven currently has 43 properties across Columbia with about 95 residents in those homes.

Sweeney said the leftover money from 2023 was not used by other organizations, so the city provided the money to Woodhaven. As part of the conditions of the grant, all repairs to the homes must be completed by March 31, 2027.

Woodhaven has already received bids for the projects and expects to complete the improvements by the end of this year.