The Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty (Met Council) is a citywide social service and advocacy organization that has provided services to the poor and near-poor of our city for the past 25 years. Its programs include many outreach activities including services to the elderly, Holocaust survivors and homeless, the provision of emergency food and furniture and the Machson Mobile, a converted motor home filled with new clothes which travels to community-based organizations providing the clothing at no cost to needy individuals and families. For many of the elderly poor, decent and affordable home repairs are simply unavailable on the open market. In 1996 Met Council, in conjunction with the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA) and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Inc., organized Project Metropair for income-eligible elderly persons and Holocaust survivors who face security concerns in their homes and apartments. Project Metropair responds quickly when there is a broken lock, an electrical problem or the need to install adequate security and safety devices such as window guards or bathtub safety rails. No elderly or disabled person should feel helpless just because he or she cannot afford to pay for home repair work, said City Council Speaker Peter F. Vallone. Project Metropair is a free home safety and security program. This project is based on a mobile repair service for elderly individuals, age 60 and over, Holocaust Survivors, and handicapped individuals. The Metropair van travels throughout the 5 boroughs on a client-appointment basis. The Metropair Service Technician is a highly skilled individual who comes fully equipped in a newly retrofitted vehicle to provide the client-requested repairs. The van is continuously restocked with supplies obtained through Met Council's Metropair warehouse. Clients must meet the income eligibility requirements of New York City's Community Development Block Grant Program, which for a family of two was $21,220 per year in 1998. Services include the installation or repair of door locks, security viewers, window gates, smoke alarms, replacement of broken floor tiles, installation of bathtub assist rails, minor electrical and plumbing repairs and patchwork and other items which add to the safety and security of the elderly. The goal of the program is to upgrade the soundness of an older person's residence in ways which will improve its structural integrity and safety. …