Home fit for a hero: Companies, charities gift Lorain veteran a roof

LORAIN — Lula Pearl Gibson served her country for six years in the U.S. Army. On Monday, more than two dozen roofers, contractors and builders thanked the 76-year-old for her service and made sure she can stay in her family home, safe and dry, when they showed up to put a new roof on her West 15th Street home. To stay in her own home, "I think my mom and dad would want that for me," she said as she stood on her front porch while a half-dozen roofers ripped down old shingles and lifted new ones into position. The work was expected to take most of the day, and was the culmination of the work of a volunteer organization and two companies who do just these kinds of projects for American veterans and service members. Gibson, 76, was stationed in Germany for five years of her six-year stint, finished up stationed in the U.S. and left the service at the rank of private first class, she said. She lived in Columbus and New York City for a time, working as a home attendant, before family matters brought her back to Lorain. The house has seen several generations come and go but stayed in the family, Gibson said. Cousins from Georgia came north to live there, as did other relatives while Gibson was living out of state, she said. Other family members stayed rent-free even while Gibson was living out of state. A friend, who also was a veteran, gave her advice that stuck with her: "He said 'Lulu, take care, because a lot of people don't have nothin','" she recalled. At one point in time, there were 16 people living in the two-story, three-bedroom home, including Gibson, her two brothers, their wives and four children, her sister and sister's boyfriend and five others, she said. With so many people coming and going and at more than 100 years old, the 1900-era house needed work. There was wear and tear from being lived in: Gibson said a contractor told her around that time he was surprised the kitchen floor hadn't collapsed, its supports were in such bad shape. Gibson said she realized it was time to find help to get the house in shape, and a community organization put her in contact with Purple Heart Homes, an organization that helps aging and disabled veterans with housing. Purple Heart Homes got Gibson in touch with Ride With Valor, a group that researches and prepares grants for U.S. veterans so they can pay for needed home improvement projects. "It gets harder as they get older to stay at home" with mobility limitations and houses needing mobility or energy upgrades, Ride With Valor CEO Scot Rhoda said. Rhoda said when he first met Gibson about three years ago, her house didn't have air conditioning and the furnace needed to be replaced. With grant funding, Ride With Valor replaced the furnace, installed air conditioning and got her new doors. When it came time to fix the roof, Legacy Roofing and Owens Corning stepped in to help. Dave Sipes, vice president of Legacy's steep slope division, said the Akron-based company agreed to do the labor for free "without hesitation" as a way to support a veteran who served her country. Sipes said his crews "take so much pride" in their work, they arrived before he did to get to work in temperatures in the mid-30s. Between 25 and 30 workers were expected to be on Monday's job, he said. "They get excited and we get excited" doing about three free or charity project roofs a year, Sipes said. The city of Lorain also chipped in, waiving the permit fee for the new roof, and Willoughby Supply provided a truck with a conveyor belt and a dump truck to haul away debris, Sipes said. "We were appreciative of that," he said. Owens Corning, with headquarters in Toledo, provided shingles and insulation at no cost, said Patrick Main, senior area sales manager for the fiberglass company's Great Lakes region. The shingles were made at the company's Medina plant, he said. Owens Corning does about 100 free roof jobs a year, through its National Roof Deployment Project, which started several years ago, Main said. He said he and the company appreciated Sipes and the workers freeing up their day to make Gibson's life better. Gibson "gets a new roof before Christmas to keep her warm," Main said. Since Owens Corning started the roof program in 2016, nearly 160 military members and veterans have received new roofs, according to the company. Ride With Valor also is paying to have all of Gibson's windows replaced next summer, which Rhoda said will greatly reduce her heating and cooling costs. "I can't thank you enough," Gibson told the volunteers from the organizations that helped her. "My mom and dad are gone, but they're smiling," she said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.