Vicki

Retired aviation technician and teacher Vicki Rode contacted Habitat Snohomish regarding repairs to the roof of her aging Snohomish home. During the great recession, Vicki was laid off from her 25-year technician career. As a 59-year-old woman, she found herself confronting age and gender-based biases when trying to re-enter the workforce. Unable to find employment, she was forced to live off her limited savings and had a hard time keeping up with expensive home repairs.   

When the Habitat Home Repair Service team arrived to perform their inspection, they found that this repair was requested just in time considering the extensive deterioration of the roof. Rode had contacted several other services and contractors who deemed the roof unsafe to work on. One inspector even partially fell through a soft spot on the north side.  

As Habitat Construction Manager, Chris Anderson, walked through the home, he discovered a major leak in the master bathroom, multiple cases of drywall peeling and collapsing, water leaking from the roof through window frames, major leakage and rot around the chimney, and an area where water was seeping down a wall and into the home’s electrical panel. It was quickly determined that the roof would likely not survive another winter. 

“I had to not think about it and hope for a miracle,” said Vicki. “It will take such a load off my mind. Without Habitat’s help I would have to continue what I’ve been doing for far too long, which is waiting and hoping the roof would make it through the next winter without failing completely.”