June 6, 2022
"We never would have had the finances to do all this ourselves” says Jackie Gray speaking about the repairs needed on his mobile home that he shares with his wife of 46 years, Lenora. The couple has lived all over the world, due to Jackie's years of military service in the Air force. But as Jackie stated, “we always wanted Texas to be home." The plan had been to buy a mobile home after retirement, to live in temporarily, and then purchase an older home to renovate. But then shoddy quality on their mobile home required numerous repairs and Jackie and his wife found themselves struggling to do roof repairs themselves or simply living with water damage and uneven floors. The couple hadn't known to put their home on a pad and it was starting to shift. They didn't realize that the materials used to make their mobile home would deteriorate quickly. It was at their local church service that the Grays learned about the Meals on Wheels Home Repair Program. One of their neighbors had gotten repairs on her home and was spreading the word. Jackie signed up and was quickly approved. He met with contractors and MOWCTX staff to go over their needs. “Sure enough, when finances came in, they sent their guys'' remembers Jackie. The contractors pointed out to Jackie that his walls were starting to buckle, something he hadn't even noticed. With funding from The Home Depot Foundation, contractors were able to repair the water damage by installing new floors and repairs on the roof. They installed a new sliding door and Jackie says he let the contractors make upgrades throughout the home, leaving it "feeling like a house inside, not a mobile home. It's modern" says Jackie. Now he and Lenora can have their children over and feel good about their family home.