Habitat is currently working on a very special project to help a local Veteran in need of home repairs. Santiago is a 74-year old Veteran who served active duty in Vietnam as a short jumper and is currently living in a home with severe roof leakage, dry rot, and mold.
Following his service, Santiago returned home, worked for over 40 years, purchased his home, and retired. Now nearly 50 years since entering the war, Santiago still suffers from his time there due to agent orange exposure which has caused him to contract very severe diabetes. He is expected to lose his legs very soon.
A proud man, you would never know from the outside appearance of his home that there are leaks coming through the roof and holes in the ceiling large enough to throw a basketball through. (See photo below). Due to his age and physical and financial limitations, Santiago has been unable to take care of the mold growth and damage to the drywall within his home, but he ensures the grass is mowed and no one outside knows that the inside of this Veteran’s home is nearly uninhabitable.
Repairs on Santiago’s home will began this September and conclude in January. This will be Habitat Greater Sacramento’s first project of our new Veteran’s Home Repairs program.
Says Santiago, “At first I didn’t believe it, that you [Habitat] would help. I’m still not sure that I do. But you have my gratitude nonetheless. It’s a hurdle this place and I never dreamed someone would help me get over it.”
Through the help of the generous sponsors and individuals below, this project is being made possible.
We are currently looking for sponsors and donations to help provide the seed money for our next Veteran’s repair project as Santiago is one of but many Veterans in our community in need of help. For more information on helping sponsor a Veteran’s repair project or other Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento repair or build project, please email Laine Himmelmann at LHimmelmann@HabitatGreaterSac.org or call (916) 440-1215 ext. 1108. We have a crowdfunding page available at https://fundly.com/veterans-repair-project
Thank you to our sponsors of this project:
- Home Depot (providing $40,000 in gift cards) – Premier Sponsor
- InterWest Insurance Services – Foundation Sponsor
- Air Warrior Courage Foundation – Contributor Sponsor
- Bank of the West – Contributor Sponsor
- Elk Grove Lion’s Club – Contributor Sponsor
- Kavanah- sponsor – Contributor Sponsor
- Thrivent Financial- Contributor Sponsor
- The City of Elk Grove – Contributor Sponsor
- Bell Brothers HVAC (providing HVAC install and unit)
- Capital City Drywall (providing drywall install. Hang, tape, texture)
- Franks Carpet Care (providing flooring installation throughout the house)
- Gene Swehla (providing roofing installation)
- Hanford Readymix (providing concrete walkway for garden access)
- Ferguson – (in-kind sponsor)
Thank you also to our individual contributors: Robert Shane Clark, Kevin Spease, Ron Lamb, John and Candice Cruz, Leanne Kent, Michael & Katie Ferguson, Suzanne Wieters, Darren Suen, Stephanie Goodlett, Debbie Glasco, Shelly Pritchard, Susan Hopkins, Heather Grillmeyer, Angela Chalmers, Kathleen Newton, Collen Sinkey, Daniel Cox, Elizabeth & Steve Thompson, John Orozco, Meghan Finn, and several anonymous donors.
