Help Charli Get Essential Home Repairs

What do you do when your elderly friend of over 30 years is in a crisis? You can't leave her in a bad situation. You help and then when you can't financially help any longer, you need to reach out for help.

My friend Charli is 78 years old. She lives in Houston and is on a fixed, very low income. She's physically disabled and uses the Houston Metro Van when she needs to go shopping or to the bank. She's been blessed to own her own condo, but she is barely scraping by on her very limited income. And, there's no room for any unforeseen expenses. We talk on the phone on a regular basis because I don't live in Texas.

In April 2024, she started complaining of her carpet being wet. It was an even bigger problem for her as she had an open wound on her toe and that couldn't get further infected by this water problem. We thought because of the location that it must be seeping in from a neighboring condo. The property manager wouldn't come to look at the issue. So, I located a company to come out and provide a free estimate to see what was going on. We were hoping it was going to be the condo association's problem, but that wasn't the case. She was unaware her A/C coils were in a cabinet and had been leaking for a long time.

The hardest part was after the A/C man left her home, she cried and wailed for a long time...I could only just be silent on the phone and let her cry....

That was really hard. I'd never heard her cry before.

The estimate for both removal of the carpet, walls and replacement along with a new A/C and heat unit was over $11,000.

She then let me know she doesn't have any homeowner's insurance because it wouldn't fit into her very limited budget.

So, I did what I could. I hired a local company to come out and do the bare minimum, so she didn't have water under her feet and wasn't walking on a concrete slab. She also let me know her washer and dryer didn't work. She'd been washing and drying her clothes by hand. So, I spent $3600 of my own money to get her old carpet removed, plug up the holes in the 40+ year old A/C unit copper coils, replace her flooring and get her a functioning washer and dryer. Not the optimal but wanted to get her out of a bad situation until we could get her a new A/C - Heating system.

We also found out that her hot water heater is also ancient and will likely implode soon. She was advised not to use hot water. So, Charli is taking cold showers and only using cold water for her washing machine until she can get a new one.

As of August 1, 2024, her A/C coils are leaking some of the time. She's got a small bucket under the coils that she checks every hour. It's a small bucket because she can't pick up a larger bucket that is filled with water. She's leaving the A/C off at night so she doesn't worry about flooding her house again.

Our goal is to get her:

1. A new A/C - Heating system

2. A new hot water heater

3. A computer so she can look up phone numbers when she needs services, like getting repair people to her home. And, not have to take a handicapped Metro Van to go to the bank to cash a check, which she does now because she doesn't know how to accomplish this on a computer or cell phone.

4. A BestBuy plan for 1 year to go with the computer that will allow her to call BestBuy Support when she isn't sure how to use the computer.

5. If enough generous donors help us out, to also pay for the removal of the soaked flooring, new flooring, and washer and dryer.

She believes with the blessing of God that she will receive help from loved ones and strangers.