HOUSTON – Inside a small house in Missouri City, building contractor Vernon Fields is working on a labor of love.
He is replacing just one of the damaged floors inside 77-year-old Harry Arrington’s home.
Last winter, when temperatures plunged to freezing, several pipes inside Arrington’s home burst open, sending hundreds of gallons of water throughout the house.
Arrington was all alone and completely helpless to do anything but watch his home being destroyed.
”The water was everywhere. It was raining down from the ceiling onto everything. The water just kept coming and it was everywhere,” Arrington said.
For Arrington, it has been a devastating year of sorrow.
First, he lost his beloved wife to cancer, then his pipes burst from the cold, and now living all alone, he is fighting a brave battle against Parkinson’s disease.
Arrington said he went through all the right steps to get the damage to his home repaired, but his homeowner’s insurance company only offered to pay out a few thousand dollars to cover the extensive damage, when thousands of dollars more was needed to make the necessary repairs.
When hearing about Arrington’s situation, his friend Renee Moten wrote to the Spencer Solves It team for help.
Right away, the team called Moten and went to work to find a qualified contractor and a materials supplier to help put Arrington’s house back together again.
Now, weeks later, Fields, who has gotten to know Arrington well and truly thinks of him as a second father, is ready to do all of the labor for free.
The Spencer Solves It team also reached out to Home Depot, as did Fields, and thanks to a very generous donation of building materials, worth close to $5,000, Arrington’s water-damaged, ripped-up home will soon become beautiful again.
“This is something I am being called to do,” said Fields, with a broad smile on his face.
The work on Arrington’s home has begun and it should be livable again within the next couple of weeks.