Tragedy upon tragedy struck Kimberly’s family, leaving her in need of hope and her home in need of repairs.
Kimberly and her daughter moved to the Gwinnett County area in 2010 and have lived in the same home since. In 2020, Kimberly was enjoying a vacation in Florida when she received devastating news from her daughter.
“I got a call from my daughter saying, ‘Mama, the house is on fire,’” Kimberly said. “She turned the phone camera around, and I saw my house with fire coming through the roof.”
In the aftermath of the fire, Kimberly reached out to a connection in construction. Unfortunately, he left much of the work unfinished or improperly done.
“He didn’t put any insulation in the attic,” she explained. “Most of the lights weren’t working. It was just a mess.”
While supporting her daughter through school, Kimberly didn’t have the extra funds to pay for another contractor, and the repairs sat unfinished.
The next year, Kimberly’s financial outlook began to take a positive turn. “I was an empty nester. I had just finished nursing school, so my plan was to do travel nursing,” she said.
That’s when two of her nieces tragically passed away within a few months of one another, leaving three children needing a new home. Kimberly knew her finances would be stretched with three more mouths to feed, but she welcomed them anyway.
Kimberly and her boyfriend fixed her home as much as they could, but the unfinished repairs became critical issues once the children moved in.
“In one of the rooms, the light wasn’t working, so we had to get somebody to come fix that light,” she shared. But the attic was still a concern.
“With three new people, you realize if you don’t have insulation how much the bills go up,” Kimberly said. “Bills were getting out of hand, and I asked, ‘Okay, what do we do?’”
Kimberly contacted Home Repairs Ministries to see if the team could help and later met Kyle, HRM’s project manager.
“When I first met Kyle, it was one of those days where you meet somebody with a kind spirit, and it was like I had known Kyle all my life,” she said.
Kyle inspected the project and was unsure whether Home Repairs’ team could help due to the type of repairs needed.
“He said, ‘I could possibly help you,’” Kimberly said. “And to hear somebody say that they could even possibly help was just amazing because I didn’t know where else to turn.”
While Kimberly waited for Home Repairs to continue reviewing their options, a neighbor backed their car into her home, damaging the exterior and adding one more stressor to her growing list of concerns.
Although the HRM couldn’t tackle every repair, they brought in a partner, Holtkamp HVAC and Plumbing, to remedy complex plumbing concerns while they helped Kimberly with the attic repairs.
“It was amazing because most people have said, ‘We’ll fix this and you have to figure out how to fix that,’” Kimberly said, “and that was never the case [with Home Repairs]. They said, ‘When we start fixing it, if we find something else that’s wrong with it, then we’ll fix that as well.’”
Home Repairs’ compassionate care has encouraged Kimberly to give back when she can. “If I can help somebody else that’s like me, I want to be a part of it,” she said. “I want to volunteer with Home Repairs.”
She encourages others to give back financially in whatever capacity they’re able, knowing that their contributions will make a true difference.
“I don’t have a doubt in my mind: whatever goes to Home Repairs will go to use for somebody else,” she said. “And the money that’s given God will not only double it, He’ll bless it tenfold.”
She hopes her story will encourage others to give or to reach out to Home Repairs when in need.
“I could never ever repay the kindness that was shown to me and my family, and I wouldn’t want to repay it,” she said, “I just want God to send blessings on blessings on blessings.”
Be a blessing to a homeowner like Kimberly by donating whatever you’re able to Home Repairs Ministries today!
