Helping homeowners
New tool library set up to assist Southside residents
Photo by St. Clair Murraine
By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook Staff Writer
When Gordon Cox decided to buy a home, he settled on a house with good bones but needed a little fixing up.
His next challenge was finding a way to make his budget work. He solved that issue by deciding to do the refurbishing himself.
“It’s been nothing short of a nightmare and basically I have had to drive four or five miles to go get the things I needed to fix up my house,” Cox said.
The fixing-up experience inspired a not-so-new idea that he felt could be helpful to others. Cox began to form a tool library, which will lend tools by using a concept that resembles checking out books from a library.
Cox, who lives in South City on the Southside, figures there are plenty of homeowners in his neighborhood who could benefit from having a means to borrow tools.
He decided to name the organization SCREWS, non-specific acronym that he didn’t explain to mean nothing more a reference to the building material.
Cox and several of his supporters, including the South City Neighborhood Association, showed up at Anita Favors Plaza near South Adams Street and FAMU Way to officially launch the organization. The Southside DIY Festival, as they called it, was a fund-raiser and a tool collection drive.
It attracted a handful of vendors offering home maintenance and other services for homeowners.
“We are focusing on serving areas of the community, specifically the Southside,” Cox said. “We want to turn into a revitalization hub. We want to turn into a place where people can look into mentorship.”
The concept of lending tools is becoming popular across the country. A San José State University study three years ago found that there were more than 50 tool libraries in the United States.
The Leon County library system joined the growing list, offering a tool lending service at LeRoy Collins Public Library. The offerings include hand trucks, gardening tools, and even game sets such as badminton and cornhole.
Borrowing anything requires having a library card. Items have to be reserved ahead of pick-up time. Anything that is kept past two weeks will cost a $5 late fee.
The organization headed by Cox has a $20 membership fee and borrowed tool also have to be returned within two weeks. A late fee will be added until the tool is returned or until its cost is covered, Cox said.
Since Cox formed the tool lending co-op last year, membership has been growing. It has caught the attention of John Desrosiers, owner of Quincy Nurseries.
The idea of helping homeowners, who can’t afford a contractor, with tools appealed to him, Desrosiers said.
“If you don’t have access to the tools the problem doesn’t get fixed and that’s not good,” said Desrosiers, while giving a demonstration on caulking an installed window. “You could have a leaky roof, leaky plumbing or leaks in the walls for rodents to come in. If you don’t have the tools you have to hire somebody else and that can get very expensive. And, for people who have limited resources the tool library can help out a lot.”
The group received some donated tools that will be added to 40 already in its inventory. A pick up and drop off point has been set up in Unit A at 1102 South Adams Street. The group can also be reached by email (screwstallahassee@gmail.com).
Future assistance for homeowners will include DIY tutorials, Cox said. Growth could also include establishing a co-op with individuals or companies that could assist homeowners, he said.
“I think they have some real practical concepts; if you don’t have something and somebody else has something the cooperative model works for everything else,” said Josh Johnson, a high school teacher who showed up to support the festival organizers. “They have taken the cooperative model and put it into something that people rarely think about and I think that’s why people are latching onto it. I anticipate this to be a really cook community organization.”
Having a means to borrow tool from a location on the Southside will be a huge help for homeowners in the area, said Chuck Birmingham, who handles outreach for the South City Neighborhood Association. He added that it’s a solution to one of many issues facing Southside residents.
“It mirrors the digital divide,” Birmingham said. “A lot of people don’t have access to these things (tools) and if you give them that access that might be all they need. They might have the knowledge to get it fixed but tools are expensive.”
