KILLEEN — A National Guard veteran was spared an expensive roof replacement thanks to the generous donation of a local roofing supply company.
“SRS (Building Products) put out some feelers that they had materials for deserving veterans to put a roof on their house, so they offered the materials up,” said Dave Farris, veteran engagement construction resource specialist for the Fort Hood Area Habitat for Humanity. “What we do is we’re trying to serve our veteran community, so I went out and did inspections of different roofing for veterans we were going to qualify, and when I drove past this house, it had missing shingles (and) the roof was definitely distressed.”
The homeowner, Gladys Jones, who lives on Bigleaf Drive in Killeen, told the Herald on Saturday while her roof was being replaced that she had been inquiring about organizations to help her. It was during that inquiry that someone told her about Habitat for Humanity.
“It is definitely a blessing because my homeowner’s (insurance) — because of the age of the home — they would not pay to get the roof done,” Jones said as workers pounded away at her roof. “And there was no way I could pay on a retired, fixed income. There was no way I could pay for a roof.”
Jones explained that the roof was original to the house that was built in 1999, and she has only been living there for a couple of years.
Bryan Chisholm, general manager of Texas Traditions Roofing, explained that a roof replacement for Jones’ house would’ve probably been around $12,000-$15,000 had she had to pay for it.
“It’s not every time that we do these kinds of projects where we have a collaboration,” Farris said. “Sometimes, we do grant funding repairs that we’ll just come in and do the repair. Sometimes, we’ll fix plumbing and a lot of other issues to improve the quality of life of our client.
“But with this one, because we had donated products, the only problem she really had with her home was roofing and insurance does not cover undamaged roofing — this one was just wear and tear — so there was no way she was ever going to be able to repair this on her own.”
SRS Building Products’ donation of the materials had Territory Manager Jeremy Cunningham proud to work for the company.
“I can’t speak highly enough about my company,” he said. “Our motto is ‘Make money, have fun and give back.’ It’s a lot of money and everything, but to be able to share that with people in need — we do this stuff all day long, selling shingles and new roofing — but to actually be able to give it to a homeowner who needed it, and the reaction on their face and their response, it breaks up the monotony of the day-to-day.”
SRS has a separate nonprofit organization called Operation Raise a Roof Foundation, which is how the company is able to do such a donation of supplies.
The partnership between SRS and Texas Traditions Roofing with Habitat for Humanity is a growing one.
“We have to take care of our communities and the families that work for us,” Chisholm said. “We’re a business, P&L (profit and loss) operated, but you also want to give back to your community. You want to be grassroots and take care of the work.”
Chisholm referred to Habitat for Humanity as a “phenomenal organization.”
“We’re blessed as a company to be able to help and serve with them on this journey,” he said.