“Sometimes we focus on everything that is so bad in the world. It’s nice to be able to focus on something that is good.”
These are the words of homeowner Susan A. In 1996, when her daughter was 18 months old, Susan moved from South Africa back to her hometown in the United States. For years, she and her daughter lived in south Atlanta.
In 2009, she purchased a new home in north Atlanta, where she still lives today, and eight years after that, she opened her own hair salon.
Everything seemed to be going her way, but soon after, her life was turned upside down.
“Three weeks [after I opened my salon], my daughter was killed in a car accident,” Susan explained. “She had a two-year-old daughter at the time. While dealing with the fallout and the grief, I was also fighting a custody battle for that granddaughter.”
After the courts granted Susan custody of her granddaughter, she started navigating a new normal for her family until the world went into lockdown during the global pandemic in 2020.
“During COVID, I had a new business while parenting for the second time. Things got a little rough,” she said.
As she was working to regain stability once more, she noticed her home was in need of repairs.
“My front porch stairs had been slowly deteriorating. I kept saying, ‘I gotta get that fixed. I gotta get that fixed.’ As a single woman and a homeowner, I’ve been the kind of person who fixes things myself. But my house is not in good shape like it used to be, and my mobility is now limited.”
Susan started to worry about the condition of her porch and the potential danger it could be to her or her granddaughter, but without the funds to take care of the repair, she couldn’t take action.
While scrolling through Facebook one day, she saw a post about Home Repairs Ministries and decided to reach out.
“I was very skeptical,” Susan said. “I was thinking, ‘There’s going to be a reason they can’t help.’ But they said, ‘Yes!’”
This summer, Home Repairs’ Project Manager Kyle and other volunteers came to the house to tear down and replace the deteriorating stairs.
“Now I have beautiful, brand-new front porch stairs that are sturdy, and I’m super grateful,” she shared.
“[Without Home Repairs,] I would not have been able to get those stairs fixed anytime soon. They were at the point where they were ready to break, which would’ve meant no way to get into my house.”
What may seem on the outside like a small repair has taken a big weight off Susan’s mind.
“I’m able to come into my house and not have to worry about falling and hurting myself. My granddaughter just has me, and if I’m not there to take care of her, then what?” she said. “The fact that I don’t have to worry about it and [the repair] didn’t cost me anything was a massive blessing.”
Connecting with Home Repairs Ministries has not only solved a concern for Susan but also left her encouraged.
“It’s heartwarming to me that there is an organization and donors willing to help people who are struggling,” she said.
