Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity is helping Walter Prayor do away with outhouse, ‘bucket showers’
Imagine if you had to use an outhouse or take showers using a bucket because you had no bathroom in your home. This is the circumstance faced by one Fayette County resident during most of his 81 years. It’s a circumstance that Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity (SCHH) is working to change.
Habitat Outreach Coordinator for Fayette County Megan Hepker said the circumstances facing the south Fayette resident, 81-year-old Walter Prayor, came after he was referred to SCHH by Fayette Senior Services and the Meals on Wheels program. Prayor agreed to be identified for this story.
Hepker said the home was built by Prayor’s father and uncle, with help from Prayor, in 1946. These days, Prayor lives alone.
“He loves his home and doesn’t want to move,” Hepker explained.
The house was constructed without a bathroom and does not have a central air conditioning or heating unit.
No longer working and on a fixed income, Hepker said Prayor has wanted a bathroom but cannot afford one. That is where SCHH comes in, she said.
Prayor for the past decades has been using an outhouse on the property and takes “bucket showers,” Hepker said.
SCHH is now raising the funds needed to transform an existing room into a bathroom. The organization is hoping to raise $30,000 for the bathroom. Hepker said the cost of the bathroom exceeds the normal project expense.
In the absence of a central heating unit, Hepker said Prayor uses portable gas heaters for which the safety is questionable. As for cooling in the summer, the home does have a window-unit air conditioner.
Hepker noted that Prayor got running water installed in the home in 2000.
If excess funds remain after the bathroom project, SCHH will use those funds for the HVAC issues, said Hepker.
While the monetary cost of the project carries no interest, the agreement with project recipients requires that program families make monthly payments to pay back a portion of the expense, which Hepker said Prayor can do. Recipients also help the organization by efforts such as community involvement activities.
Those interested in helping Walter Prayor can visit www.schabitat.org/prayor to be linked to a gofundme account in his name.
Other SCHH projects in Fayette County include several home repairs and neighborhood revitalization projects such as the Church Street Park upgrades in Fayetteville where the MOMS Club of Fayetteville took the lead several years ago.
For more information on SCHH contact Megan Hepker at 770-477-2367.
