“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill
At Next Stage Design, we put our heart into making homes, and a project like this one comes around only once in a lifetime.
Thanks to our partnership with the non-profit organization Rebuilding Together – Silicon Valley, we had the privilege of rehabilitating Gerry Tipton’s home of 43 years.
Gerry’s home had fallen into disrepair, but because he is deaf, blind, and of an advanced age, he was unable to keep up with the much-needed repairs. At 78, Gerry is legally deaf since birth and lost his sight at the age of 5. He manages to live on his own with the help of his nephew who checks on him weekly, takes him grocery shopping, and to doctors’ appointments.
His mobile home dates back to 1964. Though he has done his best to maintain the living space, he had implemented some creative (albeit unsafe) things with the electrical wiring in order to keep it functioning.
Rebuilding Together’s support went a long way to help him remain independent in his home.
Our entire team converged on Willow Glen Mobile Estates and set to work. There were 25 volunteers in all, using our trade skills from 8 am – 5 pm to complete the job.
We love our clients and put our top efforts into every remodeling project. But in most cases, those projects are about wants, not needs. We faced several challenges while working on Gerry’s home. Replacing the siding skirt was labor intensive and took quite a bit of time.
The mobile home needed considerable work, much of which involved safety issues. The major items on the list included all new electrical wiring, replacing railings, heat registers, screens, skirting, and the refrigerator, repairing doors and gutters, landscaping, and the replacement of an old shed.
Despite communication difficulties with Gerry, and parking so limited that one employee chauffeured volunteers to the project site, the whole team was committed to putting our best work into updating Gerry’s home. That’s what made this job so meaningful and satisfying. The work we performed meant Gerry could live safely in his home.
Our team came away from this experience energized, thankful, and ready for next year’s Rebuilding Together Day!
“Happiness never decreases by being shared.” – Buddha
Rebuilding Together is a nationwide non-profit organization that improves health and safety issues for low income homeowners. Each affiliate and their partners complete their work on the same day totally approximately 10,000 projects per year. Next Stage Design started partnering with Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley in 2015. This was the second project we sponsored and provided all labor.
See news coverage of this project by Garvin Thomas as a Bay Area Proud segment.
