“Fourteen years ago, I was looking at two houses down the street, and my realtor actually pointed out the house [I live in now]. We came to look at it, and it was beautiful. It was freshly painted. It had new appliances in it. Everything looked good,” she said.
“The thing is, they put a lot of ‘bandaids’ on the house and covered it up with paint. So all the beauty that we saw was actually hiding a multitude of sins.”
Born and raised in Atlanta, Tina is mom to a 19 year old daughter and a woman of fierce determination, even in the face of difficulty.
“I worked for AT&T for 12 years and they retired [me early] on disability because I had a couple of surgeries, a few health issues and wasn’t able to work outside my home again,” Tina said.
“I’ve had people look at me and they don’t think anything is wrong with me because I look healthy as a horse, but I have the conditions that you can’t see. I have chronic pain. But I don’t walk around frowning and bending over, and I try not to look how I feel. The last thing I want is for somebody to look at me as if I’m always looking for a handout or I’m trying to take advantage of the system.”
As a single mom, Tina has been the sole provider for her family. Losing her job put her in a challenging position, including struggling to maintain her home.
“The biggest thing was that one side of my house started deteriorating. They just put paint on the windows, and they had no flashings. So water was coming inside and causing the walls to crack apart,” she said.
After hiring two people to fix the problem with no results — and more repair needs piling up — Tina was at a loss.
“They knew what the problem was, but they fixed the wall and [forgot] to put the flashings on,” she said. “I had been dealing with this for a number of years, and then the porch and deck started deteriorating.”
This was another burden for Tina.
“Things just started falling apart. I don’t have my AT&T [salary]; they only pay me half of what I made before. Things just started getting worse, and I couldn’t do anything about it because I’m busy paying my mortgage and bills,” she said.
The final straw was when her water bills began increasing, signaling a leak. After reaching out to the county, Tina was directed to a program called WRAP and assured that they could help.
“They got Habitat Gwinnett to come out, and they actually repaired it for no charge to me.”
When more repair issues surfaced on Tina’s home, Habitat directed her to Home Repairs Ministries.
“They gave me the phone number for Home Repairs Ministries, and it took a minute before I called them. Like I said, I’m not used to people doing things for me for free or asking for help because I’ve never needed it,” she said.
“Eventually, I called and spoke with [project manager] Clarence. He came out a couple of weeks later, looked around my house and wrote down things they could repair. He even asked me if I needed some handles for my tub to get in and out.”
The help from Home Repairs finally met her needs.
“These guys came over and worked as if they all were getting $500 at the end of the day. They were smiling. They were friendly. Even the ones that you talk to on the phone —they don’t talk to you like ‘Oh, another person looking for a handout.’ They’re willing to help,” Tina said. “Not only are they asking about the things that they see, they’re asking about the [repair issues] that they don’t see.
“A lot of my health issues are from stress, so I’m trying to eliminate the stress in my life. Home Repairs they did just that; they eliminated a lot of stress in my life. I didn’t have to worry about where I was going to get the money from to be able to get these repairs.”
She knows how much of a blessing Home Repairs Ministries was to her, and she wants that reputation to continue in the circles that need it the most.
“There are people out there who will help. I know [everyone’s] situations are different — I’m on disability, but [someone else in need] may be working and just not have a strong enough income. Everybody needs help from time to time.
“I do share [about my experience with Home Repairs] because I want people to be able to get help — not to take advantage, but to get help when they need it,” said Tina.
Tina and her daughter now enjoy their new steps both in the front and back of their house, a fixed gutter and a handful of other improvements that have enhanced their quality of life. They are incredibly thankful.
“I pray that God blesses [Home Repairs Ministries] — their families, their homes and that He gives them the strength to continue to do this good for people,” she said. “That’s what God tells us to do. They’re doing exactly what God tells us to do — it is a true ministry.”
Make a gift to support homeowners in need like Tee this year-end at homerepairs.charityproud.org/donate.
