Casimiro “Jr.” Mendez has worked hard all of his life. His employer’s described as a pleasure to work with and always jumping at the chance to work harder. Until his mother’s recent death, he was her sole caregiver for many years and the damage in their modest wood framed home soon came to much to handle with medical bills, hurricane damage and more. The home had major water and structural damage, termites, leaking roof, no working air conditioning, no usable kitchen and no running water. Jr. washed and bathed with buckets of water from the hose. The aging house was falling in around him, but it didn’t stop him from getting to work on time each and every day.
Together with funds from The Home Depot Foundation, Builders Care, volunteers and Lee BIA members are completely making this home safe and healthy again so that Jr. has a home in which to retire. That includes replacing several areas of rotting wood throughout the home, new electrical and plumbing throughout the entire home, new kitchen, bath, drywall, paint and more. A $4,500 grant from The Home Depot Foundation paid for a portion of the materials needed for the $25,000+ renovation and the rest of the work was donated by members and volunteers.
Jimmy Rodgers, board member with Builders Care, oversaw the project and put in countless volunteer hours to help make this happen, while supplying workers to help with carpentry, flooring and more. When asked why he is involved, Rodgers said, “We help people that just can’t do it themselves so that they can have a safe place to live. It’s what Builders Care is all about.” Watch video of Jimmy
Project started on Jan. 13th and is expected to be completed by the end of January 2014.
Contributing companies include: ABC Electric, Best Western Waterfront, Cape Coral Plumbing, Carroll Properties, Hide-Away Storage, L&W Supply, Lee Drywall, Sherwin-Williams Paint Company, Suncoast Contractors Supply, T&M Portable Restrooms, The Home Depot, The Home Depot Foundation, Viking Construction, Waste Pro, Smart Companies, West Coast Structural Concrete & Masonry, West Coast Insulation, Nilles Design, Baracco & Associates & Priority Marketing.
To view photos of this worthwhile project, click here
