Linda is a homeowner in Butler County who has struggled to maintain her home by herself since her divorce. Linda now has to work two jobs to support herself, a full-time job during the week and a part-time job on the weekends - which doesn't leave much time to work on her house. Her mom also fell and injured her shoulder recently, so Linda has been helping her as much as she can.

Linda's ex-husband had partially re-shingled part of her house but never finished it - leaving off the ridge cap, which seals the top ridge of the house when the shingles are replaced. As a result, Linda developed leaks in the house, including a large one in the bathroom that damaged part of the ceiling and left drywall hanging. She tried to put tarps down over the ridges of the house to temporarily solve the problem. Although the effort helped a little, it wasn't a permanent solution.

Linda's front and back storm doors and exterior doors were also falling apart, along with a front picture window with rotting wood. Iowa Heartland Habitat was able to install all of the ridge cap on the house. We also replaced the front and back exterior doors with new, steel, insulated doors and replaced both storm doors. Lastly, we were able to replace the front picture window with a new vinyl window and new vinyl exterior trim that would prevent rotting and would be easier to maintain in the long term.

Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity was grateful to partner with Linda and help her make affordable and necessary repairs to her home, creating stability and restoring her sense of hope and pride.