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 completely made this home safe and healthy again, so that Jr. had a home in which to retire. That included replacing several areas of rotting wood throughout the home, new electrical and plumbing throughout the entire home, new kitchen, bathroom, 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.
The Home Depot Foundation’s Community Impact Grants Program supports the work that local nonprofit veteran organizations are doing to improve the lives of veterans and their families.
“The Home Depot Foundation is committed to ensuring that every veteran has a safe place to call home,” said Kelly Caffarelli, President of The Home Depot Foundation. “We are proud to work with Builders Care in our efforts to give back to those men and women who have so bravely served our country.”
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.”
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR BUILDING PARTNERS!
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.
The completion of this renovation marks project 165 for Lee BIA Builders Care, increasing the total emergency construction services provided to over $2.7 million since 2006. Photos of this project and previously completed projects can be found on the website at www.LeeBuildersCare.org and also at http://bit.ly/1heXYTL
