On MLK Day, Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry asks, 'What are you doing for others?'

A day on. Not a day off.

So goes the slogan often used on Martin Luther King Jr. Day by those who take the teachings, and actions, of the great civil rights leader and activist to heart.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, the Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry, or WARM, will be doing what the nonprofit has done on most every MLK holiday for the past six years: mobilizing volunteers to help low-income homeowners whose houses are in need of repair.

Billed as the sixth annual "MLK Day of Hope," on Monday WARM will send volunteers to homes in Leland, Rocky Point and Maple Hill (on the Pender/Onslow county line) to fix floors and siding, repair and replace steps, and install railings and grab bars to improve safety and accessibility for residents.

In most cases, the repairs are urgent and safety-related. One of the homes in need of repairs has a ceiling that's separating from the walls and problems with electrical wiring.

All of the people WARM plans on assisting Monday "are homeowners that for one reason or another have not been able to keep up with their maintenance," said Suzanne Jalot, WARM's director of communications.

The homeowners have either applied for assistance directly to WARM or been referred by other agencies. To quality, their income must be 50% or less of median household income in the area, which according the most recent U.S. Census was about $47,580 in Wilmington.

Jalot said that many of the people WARM assists are single parents, disabled or elderly, with many in the latter category relying solely on income from Social Security to get by.

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The last time WARM did an MLK Day of Hope in 2020 — they skipped 2021 because of the pandemic — the average annual income of the people they assisted was about $17,000.

For many homeowners, the repairs — which come at no cost to them — allow them to be more self-sufficient.

WARM likes to highlight its efforts on MLK Day for a couple of reasons, Jalot said. Most important, it emphasizes the teachings of King. One of his most famous quotes is, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"

From a more practical standpoint, "a lot of people have MLK day off" and it's a good time for some folks to volunteer.

WARM relies on volunteers to do much of its work, and "you can never have too many," Jalot said, adding that need doesn't end after MLK Day: "We do this Monday through Saturday every day of the year."

To learn more about WARM, or to volunteer, go to WARMnc.org or call 910-399-7563.

Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington NC nonprofit WARMs up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day