Rebuilding roofs and hope

By Emma Peterson. 

Four roofing projects across the U.S. show the power of compassion, service and community.  

As the cost of living continues to increase, many homeowners struggle to gather funds for large home projects, like a reroof. This is especially true for our more vulnerable neighbors, such as the disabled and elderly. Lucky for four such neighbors, their communities heard about their struggles and came together to keep them warm and dry under brand-new roofs!  

1 – Tom Morris 

After serving as a combat engineer in the Army Reserves for nearly eight years, Tom Morris purchased a mobile home at Virginia City Trailer Park in Port Crane. Unfortunately for him, a couple winters later the roof started leaking. Tom, who had two major strokes that disabled him and left him in a tight financial spot, wasn’t sure how he was going to fix the roof or the damage that the leak had caused in his home.  

Thankfully, his community heard his story and worked together to help him. The Impact Project began construction on a new roof (with material donated from Curtis Lumber) while other volunteers began tackling the interior, not only fixing it but adding features like an accessible bathroom that will help Tom. Executive Director of Impact Project Jim Willard shared some thoughts on the community effort with WBGH, saying, “It’s hard to sit here and express in words and then it never gets old for me to help the homeowners. I get choked up a little bit. These are game changers for the homeowners, these are big game changers. If you don’t have a roof, you just don’t have a safe place to live.” 

2 – A veteran in Maine 

Last December, Home Roofing Solutions made sure that a sick veteran would have a safe home for the holidays. They worked with the Maine Veterans Project to reroof the home of a veteran who is going through cancer treatments. The reason? To help their community. As Keith Rogers, Home Roofing Solutions supervisor, explained to Fox 22, “This is something we're so fortunate we can do. I think it's very important and it goes beyond that. It's Mainers helping Mainers. That's what we are supposed to be about. It's important.” 

3 – Elizabeth Condon 

When Elizabeth Condon’s roof started having issues, the U.S. Army and Army National Guard veteran didn’t know what to do. Luckily, the Owens Corning Roof Deployment project was able to connect her with local contractor S&G Roofing. With supplies provided by Owens Corning and labor from S&G, Elizabeth soon had a secure, new roof. And she is not the only veteran this program has helped. NEWS10 reports that, “The Owens Corning Roof Deployment Project has provided more than 675 new roofs to military members since 2016.” 

4 - VFW Post 1757 

When OutLast Construction heard on the news that VFW Post 1757 was in need of a new roof, they rallied their community together. Ronald Phrophit, project manager at OutLast told WDIO, “We brought it from about $90,000 to $40,000, with help from our suppliers and donations. We are thrilled to be able to serve those who’ve already served us.” This was a huge relief for the Post which was struggling to find ways to fix the roof that they could afford.