After Jose suffered a massive stroke in 2023, he and his wife Christina desperately needed help.
“He was in the hospital for 13 months after his stroke,” Christina shared. “He was hospitalized over ten times, and we were trying to go to different rehabs. He kept getting different illnesses, and that was delaying his recovery.”
When Jose returned home, Christina and their children were providing the 24-hour care Jose needed while Christina worked nights.
She soon realized that their home wasn’t equipped to support the care Jose needed.
She narrowed down the list of needs to the two most important projects: installing a ramp to the home’s entry and repairing a crack in the shower’s bath pan.
“The crack was causing water to leak down under the subfloor,” she explained. “We wanted to be able to help Jose into the shower, and with it being broken, it wasn’t a safe situation.”
One of the hospitals that had cared for Jose shared a list of organizations who could help, and that’s when Christina found Home Repairs Ministries.
In late 2024, Home Repairs volunteers built a ramp to help Christina and her kids transport Jose in and out of the home. Home Repairs returned again in 2025 to help with the bathroom repair with the help of Gwinnett County’s WRAP funds.
“She told me, ‘It’s just the shower,’” Home Repairs’ Project Manager Kyle recalls. But when he started inspecting the damage, he realized it was bigger than a damaged bath pan.
“The pan was almost going through the floor. At any point, they could have just fallen through and hit floor joists,” he said.
Together with Keith Riccitelli and Rapid Response Plumbing, HRM’s team replaced rotten wood, installed new subfloor and drywall and updated the fixtures in the bathroom.
“We were able to go in and make the bathroom completely brand new,” Kyle said. “It’s a piece of their home that’s put back together, and it gives them such peace of mind.”
Throughout the repair, the family’s giving heart encouraged Kyle.
“This is a family doing everything they can to take care of their dad, of their husband,” he said. “Christina kept saying, ‘How can we give back?’
“They had a heart of gratitude, but at the same time, they wanted to make sure we weren’t doing something for them that was going to take away from another homeowner.”
For Christina, the encouragement was mutual.
“You can really feel the love through their [Home Repairs’] work. They really have uplifted us and given us the motivation to keep going during this hard time,” she shared. “We really appreciate everything they’ve done for us. It’s made a huge difference during Jose’s recovery.
“Once [Home Repairs] answered our call, we knew, ‘Okay, God, you got us.’”
With these repairs complete, Christina feels a new energy even in the midst of Jose’s long road to recovery.
“[These home repairs] restored our spirit, to be honest,” she said. “We are truly blessed to have gotten connected with this amazing organization.”
