“Never in my wildest dreams”
By Maddy Alewine, Communications Specialist
Gayle has lived in her home in Alexander for 44 years built on land passed down to her from her parents. Surrounded by cow pastures and beautiful rolling hills, her home is surrounded by a series of decks, porches, stairways, and ramps to navigate the steep slops and hills on her property.
Rotted wood- from decades of weather- left her porches and walkways wobbly and very unsafe. Gayle admits that she has even fallen and injured herself.
Before Photos
After several failed attempts to work with local contractors, Gayle admitted to feeling defeated and like giving up. Luckily, she saw Habitat’s Home Repair program on a flyer and applied.
“I can’t believe they came out here and did a job like this,” she said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think they would make me a deck like that [back deck].”
After Photo: back deck
The Home Repair team got to work on what became a couple months long job. They rebuilt the large back deck, built several stairways, rebuilt a side deck, made repairs to the front porch, and rebuilt the front ramp. The team also replaced some old gutters, repaired fascia and soffit, and did some inside floor and wall work.
Gayle’s roof and septic tank were also repaired by subcontractors paid for by Asheville Habitat. Like all Home Repair clients, she had to pay a small one-time Partner Fee at the beginning (10% of her monthly income).
