Novi church helps Farmington Hills family rebuild home

NOVI/FARMINGTON HILLS — Over the last 18 years, the people of St. James Catholic Church in Novi have blessed one family every year with home repairs through Rebuilding Together Southeast Michigan.

This year, the recipient, Lynne Vogl, of Farmington Hills, who has various medical issues, and her family found that the program she had volunteered for years ago was now helping them.

Vogl said they knew of the Rebilding Together program because her parents, who were founding members of the former St. Alexander Parish, used to volunteer for the program.

“My mom and the church ladies used to make lunch for Rebuilding Together back then. They used to make sandwiches; they didn’t have anything bought or catered back then,” Vogl said.

Her sister, Michele Macy, who also lives in the home, said that as kids, they would help their mom by making salads and other dishes for the volunteers.

“Now it’s come full circle,” Macy said, and Vogl agreed.

Rebuilding Together is a nonprofit founded in Texas and has now been in Michigan for 30 years. The company’s mission is to repair homes, revitalize communities and rebuild lives.

According to Len Krichko, CEO of Rebuilding Together Southeast Michigan, applicants must own their homes, be current on their taxes or be on a payment plan, and be economically disadvantaged according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development standards, and they must have homeowners insurance. He said Rebuilding Together Southeast Michigan does have a waitlist, and it can take anywhere from a couple of months to several years to get applicants the help they need.

Vogl said she applied for assistance with the encouragement of a friend who still works for the program, and after four years of applying annually, she was able to get help with the repairs this year.

She said that there was an electrical issue in the home, where in order to operate her dryer, she would have to have someone unplug the stove and move the dryer to the kitchen area, as they didn’t have a 220 line in the laundry room. Another issue was that the floor in one of the bathrooms was rotting.

Paul Livernois, a St. James parishioner and owner of Diamond Development, a home renovation business, along with his crew repaired the issues inside the home over a four-day period the following week. They repaired drywall, the bathroom floor, installed a new toilet and sink, and changed out the approximately 50-year-old breaker box.

While a team of 26 volunteers from St. James, staff members from Rebuilding Together and the Macy family worked from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 3 to fix exterior issues including staining a deck, repairing the railing, power-washing the home, fixing loose boards, replacing a piece of siding and a screen door, and replacing a few light fixtures. They also put down mulch and more.

Vogl and Macy said that the help with repairs to their home, which they grew up in,  really means a lot. Vogl said that her health issues impede her mobility, making the brunt of the housework fall on Macy.

“It’s just a blessing, really, to have someone come and help that doesn’t want an arm and a leg,” said Macy. “It’s so expensive now, and I just lost my job.”

Macy, a mother of five — two grown children and three kids living in the home — said she was working for Big Lots but is now unemployed as stores have closed down. Macy said it has been difficult to find work, and two of her kids are graduating from high school this year.  Her daughter Madelyn, 17, will graduate from Farmington Central High School and her son Evan, 19, will graduate from the Farmington Online School with a ceremony June 5. Her youngest son, Eyan, is in 10th grade at Farmington High School.

“It means a lot knowing that my mom’s satisfied, that she doesn’t have to overwork herself and pay someone else an exorbitant amount of money to come do it individually,” Evan Macy said of the help the volunteers from St. James provided his family. “It’s just more of a blessing and peace of mind knowing that my mom can go to sleep knowing she’s not (overexerting) herself.”

Dean Pasquali and Keith Girard have led the volunteer effort for the church’s Rebuilding Together mission work for the last two years. The two are construction workers by trade.

“Giving back (to the community) is always great, and just being outside and getting people engaged to want to help give back (is the best part of the project),” Pasquali said.

He said the project provided a way for him to get his kids involved in mission work.

“It’s really just sharing Christ’s love in any way that we can and making sure my kids can see that and know that it’s a big part of what’s needed in a community,” Pasquali said.

The exterior materials for the repairs, excluding the mulch, were approximately $800, according to Girard.

“This is really fun,” Girard said. “I enjoy being a part of this and just seeing all the different skill sets come together. People jump in and they do a lot of good work.”

Rebuilding Together Southeast Michigan, located at 27840 Independence St. in Farmington Hills, relies on donations, sponsors and volunteers to repair homes. For more information on how to get involved or to sponsor an event, go to rtsemi.org.