Testimonial from Hurricane Wilma Survivor

My heart was truly overwhelmed when CREW received the following thank you letter from Anna. Anna is a 40 year old Mexican woman that lives with her disabled cancer stricken husband and three children. Their home was severely damaged, more than the $600 they received from FEMA could address. They needed a new roof, new siding, flooring window and skirting replacement.

Volunteers from CRWRC and St. Thomas Methodist Church in Manassas, Virginia came and repaired her home with donated funds from CRWRC and other sources.

Here is the letter she wrote in response to the work our volunteers did. I also included pictures of the volunteers working on her home.

To whom it may Concern,

I'm writing this letter today in gratitude. Words cannot express what appreciation my heart fills in this moment. Everyone of us works towards a single goal in life, but as parents, we work mostly to provide a roof over the heads of members of our family. For years I have done just that! Work, work, work to maintain our home. Then devastation appeared. Hurricane Wilma came through our town and destroyed what peace we had. I came home that October and felt like my dream had been shattered. My roof was missing. Most of what I worked so hard for was destroyed. Still, my family and I tried to pick up the pieces and continue on with life. We did as much repairs as we could do, we were trying to save money so we could hire professionals. As the saying goes, "When it rains, it pours!" That's exactly how it seemed. On January 3rd 2007 my husband and I received the news that he had cancer. Suddenly there was doctor visits, hospital visits and specialists to see! Slowly what money we had saved to fix our home was spent to take care of my husband. My husband made it, he beat the cancer. Our roof was there but it failed to preform its duty. With no money to fix it, I turned to CREW. I explained my situation and then waited for an an answer. The one I got was completely unexpected. Not only would they fix my roof but it would be at no cost to me. What a blessing!! Things were starting to look up. March of 2008, volunteers from CREW showed up at my house with supplies in hand. There it began, they started fixing my roof. More surprise was when they asked to come inside to see the repaired needed there. They fixed walls, windows and doors! They did it all. I just wanted to write this letter and say thank you. Thank you for repairing the roof! Thank you for fixing the floor. Thank you for repairing the walls and windows. Thank you for repairing the doors in our house. But mostly thank you for repairing my Dream! You gave me back what the hurricane took away. I thank CREW and those who volunteered for CREW. I don't know what I would have done without you. You are all angels!

God Bless you, Anna and Family