Truist Lighthouse Project: Repair work for a deserving senior

By Habitat Dekalb | August 31, 2022

The Truist team brought two departments out to volunteer on a Senior Home Repair job for their annual Truist Lighthouse Project. Last year, we welcomed eight hard working volunteers from Truist and this year we had the hands of twenty-three people!

We were very grateful for the sizable donation that helped to fund the repair job. The generosity of both financial and volunteer resources will make it possible for a deserving senior to age in place safely and securely.

The team worked hard on a gutter repair and painting project. The repair work is the beginning of a repair project that will help senior and DeKalb County resident, Ms. G, continue living independently in her home. Ms. G.’s brother served as the brick mason for the home and many of the homes in the neighborhood in 1960. In fact, her older sister lives close by in one of the brick homes.

Ms. G. remembers when the area was nothing but vacant land and cotton fields. She was born at home in the late 1930’s in the County Line section of DeKalb County. She attended school during segregation and took a bus to Hamilton High in Scottdale. Hamilton High was the only high school for Black students in DeKalb County.

Ms. G. spent the majority of her career as a school bus driver, but also worked as a maid and in a warehouse. She retired after twenty-four years of driving. A mother to four children with two still living.

Ms. G. is an admitted packrat and loves to play solitaire. Her home has three bedrooms and one bath. Ms. G. contacted us to repair safety and maintenance issues on her long-time home.

Volunteers like the Truist group will help complete the following jobs:
• Replace furnace installed in 1979
• Install safety grab bars in bathroom and side door to porch
• Install comfort height commode
• Replace sheetrock ceiling in hallway
• Replace furnace vent in floor/Safety hazard
• Remove gutters
• Repair rotten facia
• Paint exterior windows frames and soffits
• Replace rotting windowsill and brick molding
• Repair bathroom floor

If you would like to help our team complete the above repair jobs, please contact Sharon Steele, Executive Director to discuss sponsorship opportunities.