When life’s troubles pile up, sometimes you need help getting back on your feet. That’s where having a community makes all the difference — Clayton and Stella McKinnie can vouch for this.
Retirees Clayton — a former Air Force officer and telecommunications engineer — and Stella — a former nurse — have been married for nearly four decades and now co-run Life Transition Ministry.
37 years ago, the McKinnies moved from Norcross and settled into their Lawrenceville home. Their house was the third one completed in the neighborhood, and they’ve seen the area change a lot since then.
“There were about three neighborhoods out here in the middle of nowhere and about 100,000 people living in Gwinnett County at the time,” Clayton said.
In 2023, struggling with repair needs they couldn’t do themselves, Clayton and Stella discovered Home Repairs Ministries online and applied for help.
Home Repairs was able to help with interior work like pulling carpet off their stairs, repairing the light fixture in their den and kitchen and even sealing around their doors.
But more repair problems surfaced.
At the beginning of 2024, the couple noticed deterioration to their home’s siding and porch roof — and they weren’t the only ones who noticed.
In April, the city issued a citation and fined the couple for the siding and roof line issues. They also required them to appear in court.
The problem? The McKinnies didn’t have the funds to cover the fines, much less the needed repairs. They were facing a lien being placed on their home, or worse, if a solution didn’t come through.
“We were just hoping somehow, some way, we would be able to do the [repairs] that we needed to do,” Stella said.
After raising five children there, the McKinnies didn’t want to leave the place that meant so much to them — the place where one of their grandchildren took his first steps.
That’s when Clayton reached back to Home Repairs for help. After reviewing the work to be done, the job seemed too big for Home Repairs alone.
“I originally told them we couldn’t help because it was beyond the scope of what we could do with our volunteers and budget,” said Heather Loveridge, Home Repairs executive director.
Just when Clayton was going to take out a loan to pay for the repairs, Heather called to say that they’d worked out a way to make the repairs happen.
“I’d met Sharon Lee at an event and she mentioned one of her marketing clients was looking for a philanthropic project. It turns out that client, Schantz Home Improvement, focuses on siding, roofing solutions, etc., which is what the McKinnies needed help with,” Heather said. “She introduced me to Shawn Vernimo, the owner, and so when Clayton called me saying they were having to appear before the judge again and is there anything at all we could do — I reached out to Shawn and Sharon.”
They said yes.
“We don’t necessarily control how life treats us. We don’t control the cards that we’re dealt, and sometimes we just need a helping hand,” said Shawn Vernimo, CEO of Schantz Home Improvement.
“To re-side this home would’ve been about $25,000, and these homeowners had nowhere near that kind of income. We’re seeing more of that as folks are aging.”
The top priority was writing a letter for Clayton to give the judge, detailing Home Repairs’ plan with Schantz Home Improvement to address the issues. That led to the judge granting an extension.
But then, the team discovered that the roof line issue wasn’t a roof issue, it was a foundation issue. The concrete porch was sinking into the ground and pulling the fascia away from the roof.
Sharon reached out to a construction connection, Cantsink, and asked if they could help. They agreed to donate helical piles for foundation repair. But, before that could happen, Home Repairs Project Manager Clarence Atsma and some volunteers had to remove the three porch columns and demo the existing concrete.
“That was multiple days of really hard work in the summer heat,” Heather said. “Clarence and our volunteers were incredible and got it done.”
Cantsink came in and installed the helical piles and then it was time to pour new concrete.
“Again, it was a bigger job than we normally do and we couldn’t just use a couple of bags of concrete,” Heather said. “We needed more help.”
David Moellering, Home Repairs board member, introduced David Ernst, CEO of Ernst Concrete, to Heather. Ernst agreed to supply the concrete for the McKinnies’ home project.
“One of our prime commitments [as a company] is helping families and helping the communities that we do business with — those are both aligned with what HRM does. We do ready-mix concrete every day, so we had a couple of deliveries on this one particular project to salvage the front section of the McKinnies’ home from settling. There were some severe foundation issues, and I think it was a great fit,” David said.
“We definitely want to work with Home Repairs in the future. When opportunities like this come around, we try to engage in them, but a lot of times it’s hard to find areas to help because we’re busy with our business. We’re glad that people reach out to us because we don’t know where the need is unless people help us understand that.
“The cost for these repairs [on the McKinnies’ home] would be very expensive; I can’t imagine [how much money] Home Repairs saved this family. You can help make someone’s life better, and that’s what we’re here to do.”
Anthony Limardo of Cantsink — which helped repair the foundation of the McKinnies’ home — echoes this sentiment.
“This project was our first experience working with Home Repairs Ministries, but it’s hopefully the first of many,” said Anthony. “We’ve done some [volunteer projects] in the past helping veterans in need, but not as much as we’d like to do. It’s hard to find out [where the need is], unless people come to you with the opportunity [to help].
“[Giving back this way] is just the right thing. It all comes back around in the long run, so when we have that opportunity, that’s who we should be and what we should be about.”
“46% of the people in Gwinnett County are below the poverty line, so there’s certainly a need for an organization like Home Repairs, and this allows us to give back to the community,” Shawn said. “We were glad to help get the house back into a watertight condition.”
The McKinnies’ take on the experience?
“Don’t move too fast; don’t get ahead of God because this was like an answer to a prayer — it really was,” Clayton said. “The experience with Home Repairs has just been awesome; we’ve gotten to know them really well.”
“And Heather has been a big encouragement,” Stella said.
“We want others to know that Home Repairs is friendly, dependable and you can trust them. Trust is big; you need to be able to know they’ll do what they say they’re going to do,” Clayton said.
“To Home Repairs’ donors, you’re planting seed in the right field. You’re going to get a return on your gift — knowing that you’ve helped somebody is very rewarding.”
“I was taught in the Bible that everything God gives you, the surplus is not all for you — it’s for you and someone else. It’s like the water in a water hose; when you turn it off, there’s still water in the hose,” Stella said.
“This ministry will always flourish; I can see it being big,” Clayton and Stella said.
“It means that there is still good in the world and there are still good people in the world. That’s what this means to me.”
Click here to watch the McKinnies’ feature on Atlanta News First.
