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â€"â€"â€"â€"DESPITE DISABILIT Municipal Affairs and Housing minister Claude Bennett has anâ€" nounced grants totallâ€" ing more than $400,000 to 12 municipalities under the Ontario Home Renewal Proâ€" gram (OHRP) includâ€" ing a $48,789 grant to the city of Waterloo. Administered by muâ€" nicipalities, the proâ€" gram assists homeâ€" owners to upgrade their homes, with the emphasis on faulty structural and sanitary condtions, and on plumbing, insulation, This week, Eugene Hearth will be 73 years :Id. and he has plenty of reasons to celeâ€" rate. This past March marked his 45th year in the radio and T.V. repair business. Running your own business at an age when most people have retired is a great feat. However, more importantly, Hearth has accomplished this despite the fact that he has been plagued with severe physical disabilities for most of his life. Hearth, who grew up on a farm outside of Kitchener, got blood poisoning when he was four years old. A doctor gave him needles for the infection which weren‘t properly sterilized, resulting in the sockets shifting in his left arm and both hips. The dislocation of his hip bone sockets rendered him an invalid, incapable of walking. For four years, as a child, he was almost completely bedridden. Hearth retells the story calmly, without bitterness or selfâ€"pity. When,. asked if he or his family considered suing the doctor, he replied, ‘"in those days you didn‘t think about those things. You just accepted the way things were." Years later, his father met an osteopath who was willing to help, but there was a problem meeting payments. As Hearth recalls, "my father was a poor man and couldn‘t afford to pay the expensive bills. He offered eggs and vegetables to pay for my treatment and thankfully, the doctor accepted.‘"‘ With continual therapy, Hearth gradually recovered partial use of his legs. However, the permanent damage to his hip sockets caused him to walk with what he describes as a ‘"swiveling motion‘‘. He needs a cane for assistance at all times, and to this day he still cannont bend his left arm. As a teenager, Hearth recalls being ridiâ€" culed because of the way he walked. He remembers one incident vividly. ‘"One day I came out of high school and there were three classmates of mine standing across the street laughing at me. I‘d had enough so I went straight across the street and explained to them why I walked the way I did and that they could easily have been like me. They hung their heads and never bothered me after Loans of up to $7,500 Homeowners get grants electrical 73â€"yearâ€"old â€"still runs repair shop ownerâ€"occupants who wish to bring their homes up to standard. A portion of a loan may be forgiven, depending come. < Interest rates range from zero to eight per cent, again depending on income. For applicants, the maximum annual qualâ€" ifying income, after alâ€" lowable deductions are made, is $15,500. Bennett said that OHRP was launched in 1974, more that $138 million in provincial funds has been given to 685 municipalities across the province, and to individuals in unorganized communiâ€" By Patty Yack Hearth maintains that his physical disability forced him to develop great pride and an independent attitude. "It taught me how to look after myself and not to depend on He proudly asserts that ‘he has always supported himself and has never had to rely upon public assistance of any kind. _ o This determination and indomitable spirit allowed him to cope with a second severe afâ€" fliction. Twentyâ€"five years ago, he developed arthriâ€" tis in his hands, and lately it has spread to his knees. Despite the crippling effect this disease has had upon his hands, Hearth maintains he can still flex his fingers which is all he requires to keep working on repairs. However, walking has now become an even more difficult and often painful process. _ shoeâ€"box size room in back of his small shop, located at 95 King St. N. in Waterloo. He has run this particular shop since 1970 and has now expanded to fixing small appliances as well as radios and televisions. Three years ago, he converted the back room into living quarters because he could no longer climb up stairs. His room consists of a bed, dresser, table, refrigerator and stove. He proudly asserts he does all his own cooking following a strict diet because he is diabetic. And until a recent operation on his leg, he did his own shopping but now must rely upon his sister to do this for him. ~ ‘The shop is full of curious relics from a different era. Dismantled radios and appliâ€" ances lie on his work table, and Hearth admits he has a weakness for radios of any kind. As a boy he remembers being fascinated by them and he felt he had to discover what made them work. He used to stay up all night, when the reception was best, to see how many different distant stations he could get. Still a nighthawk because of this, he often stays up past midnight listening to what he says has always been his best friend. He considers television a waste of time. ‘When asked if he knew that 1981 is the International Year of the Disabled, Hearth replied, "yes," but he couldn‘t quite see how it repairs being carried out with OHRP finanâ€" cial incentives in more than 34,500 homes. It‘s a measure of the proâ€" gram‘s success and popularity," he said. More than $12 million in OHRP grarits have been made to 292 . muâ€" nicipalities since last was relevant to him. available to eligible ownerâ€"occupants in all municipalities which have adopted miniâ€" mum housing stanâ€" dards bylaws or resoluâ€" tions extablishing stanâ€" dards. In communities without municipal "‘That translates into administered by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing‘s Community Housing Division in conjunction with the Ministry of Northern Affairs. OHRP is one of the province‘s renewal iniâ€" tiatives intended to asâ€" sist municipalities and the private sector in cling existing reâ€" munity renewal activiâ€" ties. Other initiatives include downtown and main street revitalizaâ€" tion, neighbourhood renovation and properâ€" ty maintenance. lives in a 1931 â€" 1981 Saturday, September 26th, 1981 1:00 â€" 5:00 p.m. COME AND MEET YOUR FORMER CLASSMATES & TEACHERS ANNIVERSARY REUNION Elizabeth Ziegler WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY , SEPTEMBER 16, 1981 â€" PAGE 6 * Short Program at 2:00 p.m. * Souvenir Bookiets Available x Displays of Old Pictures, Newspaper Articles, etc. * Refreshments Will Be Served Elizabeth Ziegier School 90 Moore Avenue South Waterioo, Ontario Phone 742â€"4402