Today, the community came together to help a local homeowner in need. For years, Diane Schroeder’s home had been literally sinking into the ground. Research determined that her home had been built on construction debris in the 1970s and now that debris had compacted leading to structural settling with lots of cracks and even holes in the walls where daylight was showing through. Schroeder learned of this after her adult children were trying to assist her with a handicap accessible bathroom modification a few years ago. Schroeder has had multiple medical issues including most recently a leg amputation below the knee. She has spent time at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville to help with her constant pain and prosthesis issues. Diane is determined. Volunteers wanted to build her a ramp and she said, “No way. I am gonna be walking.” She and her husband, Arthur, lived in this home for 35 years until his recent death from Lung Cancer in 2009. Diane had complications from a knee replacement in 2008 that lead to an infection and 10 days in the hospital. Since then, she has had 4 knee replacements on the same leg and 17 additional surgeries leading to the recent amputation of her leg above the knee. She spent months in a rehabilitation clinic learning mobility tools for her new way of life. All the while, the 40-year-old home had been sinking, literally. Needless to say, the bathroom could not be renovated until the foundation issues were addressed. All work stopped. Unfortunately, Mrs. Schroeder is not covered under her homeowners’ insurance policy. Debris is not covered under catastrophic ground cover collapse and she does not have sinkhole coverage, although she has been advised that it would not have covered this type of claim.
Schroeder reached out to several organizations who could not take it on themselves. A team of folks including members of her church, staff from the Dept. of Human Services and a reporter from The News-Press were working together to try and help Mrs. Schroeder fix this problem. Today with the effort of many, work began to stabilize the structure of her home. Corporations, individuals and local non-profits came together to raise the much needed funds, volunteer their time and more. The $18K foundation stabilization portion of the project is expected to be completed this week. Bathroom renovations with the Lee County Dept. of Human Services are slated to begin next month. This is truly a community-wide effort to help this woman who found herself in a very unique situation and needed some help. We are so thankful to all of you who came out and have supported this effort. There is more to do. And more people in need in our community. Keep those donations coming. They are making a BIG difference in the lives of many all over our community. THANK YOU for your generosity and thoughtfulness. Some of the local companies donating to this effort are listed below. Please try and support those businesses that support our community. Special thanks to all the individual donors as well.
- FINEMARK BANK
- N SQUARE, INC.
- Rick Arnold, Arnold/Sanders Consulting Engineers, Inc.
- Jimmy Rodgers, West Coast Structural Concrete & Masonry
- Lee County Dept. of Human Services
- All-Star Equipment
- Preferred Materials
- The News-Press
- Velocity Engineering
- Waste Pro
- United Site Services
- Sunset Air
- Plumbing Solutions
- Priority Marketing
- The homeowner’s church family and others
View more photos of today’s work HERE:
