All is Well

Sixty-year-old Lisa Allen panicked when the well ran dry at her La Pine home.
She had been working hard to pay off a loan for the home’s roof and had plans to retire in 7 years.
“I was at a complete loss of what to do. I knew it was going to be a huge expense. I didn’t know how
I was going to afford it,” Lisa said. “It was stressful because I was thinking ‘I’m probably not going to
be able to retire now. I have to pay off these loans—I’ll be like 80.’”
Without well water, she relied on bottled water for drinking and washing dishes and had to ask
neighbors to use their bathroom to shower.
Lisa called La Pine Senior Center to find out what other residents were doing about their wells
running dry. They told her, “Call NeighborImpact. They will help you out—you don’t have to worry.”
NeighborImpact’s Lending program got to work right away. They scheduled Lisa to have a new well
drilled and set her up with a deferred, low-interest loan.
“I didn’t even know what deferred meant, but they explained all of that to me,” Lisa said. “I still
wanted to pay it off before I retired–but at least I was going to get this done.”
NeighborImpact’s Lending staff work with clients to customize payment plans based on their needs
and ability to repay. For those who cannot afford a monthly payment, the deferred loan is repaid
when the home is no longer the client’s primary residence (for example, after the sale of the home
or the death of the client). For Lisa, the loan was paid off much sooner.
You see—NeighborImpact helped Lisa apply for funding through Oregon Water Resources. After
Lisa’s new well was drilled, Lending staff called to tell her that her application had been approved,
and the grant would cover the entire cost of the loan.
“It’s all great news and I am super excited,” Lisa said. “It was a really stressful beginning and then a
really happy ending, and it was all because of NeighborImpact!”
During the 2021-22 fiscal year, NeighborImpact’s Lending program facilitated the drilling of 20
new wells in Deschutes County, which has been categorized as extreme drought conditions. The
program recently received additional funding support from Deschutes County and is offering a
rebate program to help reimburse residents who have incurred drought-related expenses.