“This repair changed my life, I can’t thank everyone enough. I can’t even imagine having to shelter in place in my previous circumstances. Thank you Habitat.” John, Habitat Home Repair Recipient.
In this time of uncertainty, safe shelter is more important than ever before. As our volunteers and supporters are asked to stay at home, so are our Habitat homeowners and Habitat Home Repair, recipients. We checked in with one of our Habitat Home Repair recipients, John, and learned how the repairs we made on his home have made sheltering in place due to COVID-19 a possibility.
John is a hardworking man and Vietnam veteran. He was diagnosed with lupus in 2007, which resulted in a long list of health problems that left him with extremely high medical bills. That paired with the economic crash of 2008 left him with very little. Needed repairs on his home began to pile up. “The biggest challenge in my life became lupus, but then my home became second priority because I couldn’t afford to fix it,” John said.
In 2018 his heating system completely shut down which left his house very cold. Because of his lupus, John loses blood flow in his body, especially in his hands. This accelerates when the temperature is too cold, and he is unable to move until he gets warm. His condition became so severe that he was admitted to the hospital a few times.
“It was beyond rough without the heater, I couldn’t move most mornings and evenings. I would sit and wait to be able to move again.”
HFHVC received his application and was able to complete the repairs just before Christmas in 2019.
Thanks to HFHVC, John has a much better home in which to shelter in place.
