Before and After: See the Dramatic Facelift to This Pine Hills Home

Vivian has lived in her Pine Hills, Florida home for the past 43 years. Recently mold has overrun the property and her health has deteriorated.

As part of the Spectrum Housing Assist program, our 30 volunteers joined forces with the Orlando affiliate of our national partner, Rebuilding Together, to help make Vivian’s home safe and healthy again.

According to her daughter-in-law Tara, the problems with Vivian’s home began when a bathroom pipe burst throughout the house. Following the leak, mold appeared but Vivian did not have the means to repair the pipe or remove the mold.

Vivian continued to live on the property for two years until her son and daughter-in-law were made aware of her situation. Her family got her out of the home; she has been living with her son and daughter-in-law for the past eight months.

 

Looking for Help and Finding a Waiting List Three Years Long

At the beginning of the rebuild, there was lots of debris in the backyard of Vivian’s Pine Hills, Florida home.

Tara reached out to several organizations for assistance but was added to multiple waiting lists, including one that was three years long. Finally, Rebuilding Together Orlando was able to unite several businesses to donate their time and services in order to get Vivian back on her feet.

 

Volunteers Couldn’t Enter Pine Hills, Florida Home Because of Dangerous Mold

Our volunteers left the mold remediation to the professionals and focused on fixing up the home’s exterior.

Spectrum volunteers couldn’t enter Vivian’s home because it was too dangerous. Instead mold remediation was fully donated and handled by the professionals at Dryfast Systems, a locally owned business based out of Orlando.

Before the mold remediation was complete, our volunteers focused on renovating the home’s exterior during the Spectrum Housing Assist rebuild. In a single Saturday, they primed and painted the exterior, removed overgrown landscaping, demolished an outdoor shed, painted and finished work on the exterior French doors, cleaned gutters and removed trash and debris from the yard.

Vivian and her son and daughter-in-law worked side by side with volunteers the whole day. Their dream is that once the repairs are complete, Vivian’s grandchildren will be able to visit in a safe and healthy environment.

 

Volunteers Distributed Hundreds of Safe & Healthy Home Kits to the Pine Hills Community

Spectrum employee Joe Durkin joins a homeowner who picked up a Safe & Healthy Home Kit during the event.

While the rebuild was taking place, our volunteers also helped distribute 240 Safe & Healthy Home Kits at the Central Florida Urban League, located less than a mile from where Vivian lives. Many of the residents who picked up a box expressed how fortunate they felt that Spectrum brought them supplies to help make their home a better place for their family.

At the end of the day, Vivian expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the group for helping make her house a home again. She moved back in on December 20th, which was just in time to live out her dream of being back at home by Christmas.