Keeping The Roof Over Their Heads
Plano
Companies Among Those Making
Repairs to Dallas Homes
By Cathy Spaulding
Staff writer
- Plano Star Courier
South Dallas resident Bertha Cox
recalled the wonderful feeling she
experienced when she stood on her
porch during Friday’s rains.
I was on my porch and not getting
wet," she said, adding
that she has the Lord and free repair
work from a Plano roofing company
to thank for it.
Three Plano area companies—Elite,
Trident, and Texas Best—were
among 19 roofers that did free repair
work for 22 needy and elderly Dallas
residents last week. It was part
of the Shingle Solutions project
sponsored by the nonprofit Center
for Housing Resources, the City of
Dallas and Guaranty Federal Bank,
which provided $25,000 in construction
materials.
Center for Housing Resources representative
Audrey Weir recruited the roofers
to provide the labor.
"A leaky roof is highly damaging
to a home," Weir said. "A
new roof can actually save the home
for many of these people and keep
them from having to move out.
"Some people literally had
holes in their roofs where you could
see outside," she said, citing
Cox’s home as an example.
Jeff Peters, president of Elite
Roofing of Plano, said Cox’s
roof was "pretty gone."
"It was leaking all over, getting
into the sheetrock. I had to put
buckets around the house," Cox
said. "There was nothing I could
do about it. But I felt that one
day, God would do something about
it. And he did."
Peters was more modest in his appraisal.
Weir called us and asked if we would
help and I said ‘sure,’" he
said. "We like helping out."
Peters observed that his heart was
touched by helping the elderly woman.
"She helps a lot of people," he
said. "She lives in an area
where there are a lot of homeless
people and she has a clothes closet
on her front porch where people can
get clothes for free."
Plano resident Paul Willi, owner
of Trident Roofing, was similarly
moved when he repaired the roof of
93-year-old Joe Lay, who is deaf.
He said Lay was wary about the roofing
work because of previous construction
problems on his house.
"When we first talked to him,
he looked us over and said ‘how
much is this going to cost me,’ and
when we told him ‘nothing,’ he
said, ‘I’ll believe it
when I see it,’" Willi
said.
"Lay stood in front of his
home and watched everything," Weir
said.
Weir also praised Texas Best Roofing.
Officials from that company could
not be reached for comment. She said
when she contacted that company,
officials there referred her to 10
more people who would do the work.
She said the repair work could have
cost these low-income residents $5,000
to $8,000. Peters said his two days
of labor at the house was worth around
$2,000.
Weir said homes all over Dallas
County needed work, from Hamilton
Park in North Dallas to East Dallas,
South Dallas, even Duncanville.
The week of Nov. 11-15 was chosen
for most of the roofing work because
it was so close to Thanksgiving,
Weir said.
Cox surely expressed thanks.
"Before, I was living in the
deep seat of depression. I didn’t
want anybody to come and see the
condition I was in," she said. "But
since (the repairs) I told everyone
it’s the greatest day I ever
had. I saw more joy from this. |
