Repairs

Hopie and her husband Enrique have lived in Kent for more than two decades, having bought their home when his work brought him to the area. Originally from the Yakima Valley in sunny Central Washington, Hopie found adjusting to the Puget Sound weather difficult at first. Over time, she grew used to the rain and settled into life in the region. 

Before retiring, Hopie worked as a caregiver in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Her husband worked as an alcohol and drug counselor. In retirement, Hopie spends time with her community and family. For more than 20 years, she and several other women in her neighborhood have played dominoes together. While some of the original group have moved away or passed on, two of the original players remain, and the group now meets every two weeks at the senior center in Kent. 

Hopie is the mother of eight children: six sons and two daughters. Her family, including numerous grandchildren, is spread across several locations, including Tacoma, South Seattle, Arizona, the Yakima Valley, and Idaho. 

Hopie first learned about Habitat for Humanity’s repair program through a newspaper several years ago. At the time, she and her husband were experiencing problems with a leaking roof. She applied to the program, and after some time, they were accepted.  

While the roof repair was the original need, the work ultimately extended beyond that. Habitat completed a new roof, installed a new water heater and a new furnace heat pump, added a range hood over the stove, replaced fans, repaired the stairs, remodeled the bathroom, fixed closet doors, and repaired the front door. Hopie described the work as beautifully done and expressed deep gratitude for the improvements. 

The repairs were completed through two different programs through Habitat, CAPABLE and Critical Home Repair. The work took approximately six months, beginning in late fall and continuing through winter, with crews returning to finish what weather initially delayed. Additional repairs, including the bathroom work, were completed after she qualified for the second program. Hopie has recommended the repair program to others and has even encouraged family members to apply. 

Since the repairs were completed, Hopie has noticed clear improvements in her quality of life: “With all the work, our light bill has come down quite a bit and our heat is better. Our stairs are very sturdy; we’re not afraid to go down them anymore. Everything is wonderful.” 

Lois has lived in her Bothell home for about 56 years. She and her husband moved from the Midwest when he accepted a position as a professor at the University of Washington. Adjusting to the climate was difficult at first, but she eventually grew to love it. Lois worked in education after moving, teaching first and sixth grades, serving as a reading specialist, and later working in the central office on testing and research. 

In retirement, Lois spends time organizing and enjoys monthly lunches with her husband’s former students, which she describes as the highlight of her month. Living in Bothell, she values her community because her neighbors look out for her. She once stayed with a neighbor during a power outage so she wouldn’t be alone at home. 

At ninety and widowed, Lois has difficulty walking up and down her front steps. In order to leave her home without assistance, she needed to exit through her garage. She explains, “There’s no way I could get down the stairs because Jack was gone and he always held my hand to take me down the stairs.” 

The Habitat SKKC repair team installed a railing and gave Lois newfound independence. The team also installed a lever in her bathtub because her hands couldn’t turn the knobs tightly enough. They also added a creative feature so she didn’t have to stoop down to tend her flowers: a flower box that extended from her stairs into the yard, making it easy for her to work at waist level. Her husband, who passed away a year and a half ago, loved red geraniums, so she continues the tradition of planting them in the yard.  

Lois learned about Habitat’s repair program through fire department volunteers who visited after her husband had several hospital stays. They referred her to Habitat because of her needs.  

Lois appreciates the repair team for being skilled, kind, and considerate, noting that they always arrived smiling and ready to work.  

Lois says gratefully of the work done on her home, “It’s life changing. I appreciate it so much. It gave me back my humanity.” 

Ruthi E. has worked as an English professor at Central Washington University for close to 40 years. The job brought her from her native Portland to Ellensburg, where she and her ex-husband bought a house that she jokingly refers to as a “hodgepodge of code violations.” 

In her spare time, Ruthi sings in the choir of the Ellensburg Methodist Church, where she has been a member for 30 years. She also gives back through volunteer work at the church’s clothing bank, where they accept and organize donations in a free clothing store that the church runs. She also volunteers with Central Washington Justice for our Neighbors, an organization that serves the local immigrant population. When not giving back to her community, Ruthi enjoys reading and maintains a weekly dinner with friends every Wednesday night. 

It was at one of these dinners that Ruthi’s friend mentioned Habitat SKKC’s repair program: “I have a friend who has her finger on the pulse of what’s going on in Ellensburg, and she told me about this program, and it sounded too good to be true. I’m so grateful to that friend that every time we meet on Wednesday night, I buy her dinner.” 

Ruthi and her ex-husband bought their home, a fixer-upper, in 1990. The original house was built around 1886, and the previous owners kept adding to it in the ’20s and ’30s. She explains, “It was in bad shape, but my ex-husband had been a contractor, so he fixed it up considerably and then built an addition. It’s an interesting, rambling little mess.” 

One of the features of her home in dire need of repair was the side porch, which was sagging and crumbling. “It looked absolutely horrible, and it was scuffed and squishy,” adds Ruthi.  

The wooden part of the deck that leads to the concrete steps “sagged like the Dickens” because it had been walked on for so many years and it wasn’t built very well to begin with. Habitat SKKC’s Repair Team rebuilt the whole porch in a week, including putting in foundations for it. The work didn’t stop there: We replaced an outdated and unsafe wall heater, fixed live wires hanging down in the attic, and brought in an arborist to clear out branches from the yard. 

“I can’t believe I got all this. That would have cost me a fortune. I couldn’t afford it in a million years,” Ruthi reflects with gratitude.

Ruthi is a grandmother and loves that her grandchildren live only a few blocks away. She refers to her eldest grandson Baxter as a “raccoon” because he is always scavenging and bringing items back to grandma’s house. “Every time he comes over, he wants to go to the Habitat Store,” she says. He has already laid claim to grandma’s porch, added a desk he found, and turned it into his workshop. Most recently, he built a potato cannon using a Pringles can. 

She is happy to share the space with him, especially now that it’s safe for everyone to walk on. The newly repaired porch gives them renewed access to an important part of the house, one where Ruthi can enjoy some quiet time outside and Baxter can work on his latest engineering projects. 

Repair clients Maria and Enrique are two of the beneficiaries of this year’s Rampathon, a partnership with Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties. Through the program, Master Builders donates $5,000 in materials, and Habitat SKKC donates labor to build or repair ADA ramps across King County.

The couple, their two adult children, and Enrique’s sister live in a quiet cul-de-sac in Kent where neighbors look out for each other. Maria and Enrique left their home country of the Philippines more than a quarter of a century ago and haven’t returned in 20 years. One thing they don’t miss about the Philippines is the heat and humidity; the cooler climate is their favorite part about living in the Pacific Northwest. 

Maria works for an insurance company. After the pandemic, staff were offered the opportunity to work from home, and it suited her lifestyle well. Enrique is disabled and working from home gives Maria the time and flexibility to care for him throughout the day. She works the early shift and finishes work in the afternoon, which makes it easier to take Enrique to the doctor, physical therapy, and other appointments. One day while running an errand at a wheelchair accessories store in Renton, Maria saw a promotional flyer for Rampathon and decided to apply. 

Because Enrique is mostly housebound, ensuring they live in a safe and accessible space is of the utmost importance, which is why finding out they were to be recipients of a new ramp for Enrique’s wheelchair was so meaningful. “I know you get so many applications. I really am one of the fortunate, the blessed that got picked,” Maria adds. 

The project initially focused only on the front entrance, where Habitat SKKC’s Repair Team removed the makeshift ramp Maria and her neighbor had installed and put in a new, wider ramp. Maria was pleasantly surprised to find out that work could extend to the backdoor, where Enrique hadn’t been able to access the patio since needing a wheelchair. 

“He used to plant roses in the backyard, so he missed that,” Maria explains. Now, with the new ramp installed, Enrique once again has better access to their backyard and the peace that comes with spending time outside. 

With improved access to their home, the couple has an improved outlook on their “forever home.”  

Maria says, “It’s a sanctuary. I’m very proud this is what people see. I mean, it’s not only a place to sleep in or whatnot. This is where we’re going to grow old.” 

Repair client Yvonne L. and her family moved to Seattle in 1989. Her favorite aspect of the city is the greenery. It reminds her of Trinidad, where she was born. She has gone back to visit Trinidad three times since she moved to Seattle, and she finds ways to bring the feeling of it to her adopted city. 

Hers is an active family that participates in cultural celebrations honoring their Trinidadians roots. Her late husband used to make costumes for the West Indian Day Parade in New York City. Yvonne’s family now makes costumes for the parade in Vancouver, BC, and they’re trying to incorporate the parade into the annual Seafair Weekend Festival. 

She has four kids and five grandkids, all still living in this region. She spends a lot of time caring for them. When not working at a local preschool or caring for her family, she focuses on other caregivers: Yvonne volunteers with Women United Seattle, an organization that serves underrepresented BIPOC caregivers 55 years and older in the Skyway and West Hill communities of King County. They host multiple events throughout the year to fundraise for the organization, including an annual fish fry.

Yvonne’s home is a welcoming space for family and friends, but in order to ensure all parts of the house stayed that way, Habitat SKKC’s Repair team added handrails to four sets of exterior stairs in the front and back of the house, replaced several stair and deck treads, and added a gutter to the awning at the back porch.

“It makes it a lot easier for us to get up the steps,” Yvonne explained of the addition of the handrails, our first project at her home.

Recently, Yvonne had a ruptured side sewer and was experiencing overflows and wastewater running into her basement. Habitat SKKC stepped in again and was able to connect with one of our frequent trade partners, Brewer Sewer, to provide a larger scope of sewer repair for the same price as the cheapest estimate she had previously received (and one quarter of the price of the comprehensive bid she had received). Brewer Sewer also added a sewer lining so the repaired sewer in her backyard will last for 30-45 years. Yvonne’s repair was funded via a 0% deed of trust provided by the King County Community Development Block Grant. 

With the repairs complete inside and out, Yvonne can worry less about her house and focus more on what is important to her: Caring for her family, celebrating her heritage, and giving back to her community.