by Michael Bonts
Special to The Daily Record
It has been one year since the Northeast Florida Builders Association heeded a call to help Jacksonville’s elderly, disabled and disadvantaged citizens.
The builders association launched Builders Care last October and Saturday is a volunteer day commemorating the one-year anniversary of the program that has touched the lives of so many.
“Our ultimate goal is to lessen substandard housing in Duval County,” said Ken Kuester, Builders Care chairman. “Statistics show there are between 45,000 to 60,000 substandard dwellings in Jacksonville.”
The program has repaired over 100 houses since it was started last October.
One small, frail 76-year-old woman’s plumbing was in shambles. A master of improvisation, she dealt with her problems by drawing her bathing and cooking water from a dribbling, broken pipe outside her home.
“If you don’t have the money to fix it, you have to find a way to cope,” said Evelyn English, who has been widowed for more than 20 years and survives on a fixed income.
To help meet the growing needs of Jacksonville’s elderly, disabled and disadvantaged citizens needing emergency repairs to their houses, the Duval County Housing Finance Authority granted $1 million to the program in July.
Earlier this month, NEFBA’s annual charity gala donated $45,000 to Builders Care.
In May and June, Builders Care launched an all-out blitz to respond to the needs of over 40 elderly, disabled and disadvantaged homeowners.
“Our purpose is to provide renovation and repairs for those who could not otherwise afford them. The people we help couldn’t afford to hire a remodeling or construction company,” said Kuester.
A volunteer army of builders, contractors, community groups, churches and volunteers from Florida Youth Challenge Academy, Youth Build and the NEFBA Student Chapter at the University of North Florida, working under the Builders Care banner, went to work on dozens of homes in desperate need of repairs.
“This has been quite a display of how this industry cares about the community,” said NEFBA president Denise Wallace. “Over 400 volunteers worked under a blazing sun each weekend. Lunch was provided at a city park through a partnership with the Jacksonville and Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau.”
“Adopt a grandma” was the battle cry for the project’s official name, Operation Leverage, a marathon undertaking without traditional boundaries.
“We put all the resources available and utilize volunteers and members of the Northeast Florida Builders Association to make a great impact during those two months,” said Builders Care executive director Bill Wilson, a veteran certified contractor.
Builders Care specializes in making homes handicapped accessible, repairing roofs, siding, leaks; painting, general repairs and installing heating and air conditioning.
“Our purpose is to provide renovation and repairs for those who could not otherwise afford them. We aren’t competing with the remodeling trade. The people we help couldn’t afford to hire a remodeling or construction company,” explained Wallace.