Angelina Chwalek, South Bend
“I praise this program. I am worry free with regard to the house now.”
It’s hard to capture the spunky personality of 86-year-old Angelina Chwalek on paper. “Ooohh, you don’t know the list I have!” she replied when asked how Rebuilding Together helped her. “I don’t even know where to begin! I hope you have a lot of time to talk.”
She explained how electricians rewired and insulated the attic while plumbers put new pipes on her kitchen sink. Volunteers installed new linoleum on her bathroom floor and fixed a leaky toilet. Others painted all of her ceilings, installed new gutters and rain pipes, and replaced the screen in her front door.
“My water heater went out when the house captain was there, and Rebuilding Together replaced it for me even though it wasn’t on the to-do list,” Chwalek marvels.
“I praise this program,” adds Chwalek. “I am worry free with regard to the house now. There is no more tension. My husband used to do a lot of work around here, but he passed away a couple of years ago. I’ve lived in this house since 1949. It’s a nice, little, comfortable home, and I’m not going anywhere.”
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Corine Griffin, South Bend
“I just wanted to tell the world. I never would have had the cash to do all that.”
“They cleaned out my garage, and now I don’t know how to walk in there because I don’t have anything to hit my toe on,” jokes 92-year-old homeowner Corine Griffin.
“I have so much to be thankful for,” Griffin continues.
“I’m living off what I earned before I retired, which isn’t a lot,” says Griffin. “I wish I could repay them for all they’ve done.”