Roof Rebuild
Meet the First Team to work on Adalberto Moctezuma’s home in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico.
December 6, 2019
Adalberto, known in the community as “El Mudo,” was in dire need of help. His home was devastated by Hurricane Maria, and since then, he has been living with broken windows, mold, crumbling ceilings and walls, and, in some parts of his home, no roof. The metal roof over his son’s bedroom and the kitchen had blown away completely.
Adalberto keeps documents and photos of his home to show the damage from the storm. He used these photos to communicate the work that needed to be done and where assistance was needed — fixing his roof and stopping the leaks inside his home.
After assessing his home, the CGI Team, which specializes in building roofs out of corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheets and wooden structures, got to work. They removed the rusted untreated sheets that were strapped with wires and tape and started reinforcing and building a new structure to mount the new CGI sheets onto.
Samantha Garley, a sign language interpreter, accompanied Lizette, the assessor for the Yabucoa Program, in the initial assessment of the home; Adalberto’s method of communicating is not formal sign language; he uses simple gestures in his conversations. Because she was the first to visit his home, Garley feels she has a special connection to Adalberto and wanted to be a part of working on his home, so she joined the team.
Mars Simpson lives in Seattle and works as an ecology focused landscape designer. He said the work on Adalberto’s home has been gratifying, despite any challenges the team faced from the preexisting work not being to code. To make the roof resilient, the team repaired and reinforced the existing building. It takes more time, but it ensures the home can withstand hurricane winds.
Simpson also volunteered with All Hands and Hearts in St. John, USVI, mostly in critical repair and interior work. His dad taught him the skills he needed to build a roof and repair homes. “My dad always told me, you never know when you’ll need these skills, and he was right.”
Laura Valles is from Spain and works as an architect. She has experience fixing and restoring buildings, and she designed a way to fix Adalberto’s roof using Revit, an AutoCAD alternative. The team is grateful for her skills in designing practical solutions.
Greg Rea came to Puerto Rico last year for vacation and saw many homes in need of repair. When asked about his building skills, he said he considers himself an above-average handy guy; being a homeowner for over 20 years has taught him how to fix things. In his free time, he also likes to fix cars. Rea has three sons and was moved by Adalberto’s situation, “helping to rebuild so his son can come back home and stay in a decent bedroom, that touched me a little bit. We’re doing good work for good people.” Rea loves efficiency and likes how motivated and organized everyone on the Yabucoa Program is, “it’s a productive and there’s a warm culture on base.”
John Thompson is a site supervisor for All Hands and Hearts. “The first day on this jobsite, I noticed the roof on the back was held on by electrical cables and random wires; it seemed someone tried to help him. I was excited to work on this house because of my hearing loss issues; [Adalberto] being deaf makes this a special project for me.” Thompson has been in Yabucoa for seven weeks; before Puerto Rico, he worked with us in Houston, St. Thomas and Mexico. As soon as his team completes the CGI work, a concrete sealing team, critical repair team and sanitation team will complete the house, ensuring Adalberto is able to enjoy his home worry-free.
Coincidently, Moctezuma’s home was the 400th cement roof repaired and sealed by the All Hands and Hearts volunteers in Yabucoa. There are hundreds of families that need assistance in reinforcing their homes and making them more secure for hurricanes to come. Help Yabucoa residents by contributing with a donation today.
FOOTNOTES
Story and photos by Alicia Kidd for All Hands and Hearts
