The Home Team is on the lookout for a house in the Tri-Cities in need of some TLC.

Combining philanthropy, faith and community spirit, the Home Team has been offering up whole-sale repairs to the homes of families in need since 2007.

But members of the group, which consists of trades-people, builders and members of the Cornerstone Church, have seen a steady decline in the number of nominations from within the Tri-Cities.

"It think it's largely an anomaly," said Stevan Mirkovich, the pastor at Cornerstone Church. "But maybe it's a case of sometimes the message getting old. Perhaps it's too out of sight and out of mind."

As a result of the decline in applications, the team's large-scale renovation projects undertaken over the last two years have been in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.

While that's not necessarily a bad thing, the group started its work with a focus on helping in the Tri-Cities, and would like to continue with that pledge.

"With the size of our community, there's plenty of needy families around," Mirkovich said. "We just have to do a better job of getting the word out."

That's not to suggest Tri-Cities families haven't benefited from the program at all during the last two years - smaller, less labour-intensive jobs like installing windows or flooring have taken place.

But Mirkovich wants the Home Team's marquee repair job - a job akin to a top-to-bottom renovation project - to go to a local family this year.

"We'd like it to be a Tri-Cities family," he said.

"As for our criteria, we need to see some sort of demonstrated need, whether it's medical or some sort of crisis that has just made it impossible for them to look after their home properly."

The deadline for applications for this year's round of nominations is March 31. For information around application criteria, log on to www. www.coquitlamsda.com/ hometeam.

"There's nothing we're afraid of," Mirkovich said. "We will tackle anything."

jkurucz@thenownews.com

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