August 31, 2021
“This is where I raised my kids,” says 60-year-old Delane Russell. “I was a single mom and they grew up here. This is our homestead.”
She’s talking about the East Austin house she’s called home for the past 26 years. Built in 1979, its age began to catch up with it in recent years. “Everything was old. I could never get ahead,” says Ms. Russell who served for 13 years in the U.S. Army National Guard. “The house was falling apart.”
That’s when she turned to the Meals on Wheels Central Texas (MOWCTX) Home Repair Program for help. Using funds generously donated by The Home Depot Foundation (THDF), MOWCTX replaced the home’s stucco exterior in places where it had started to crumble. Repairs also included fixing a major water leak in the master bath and replacing counter tops and cabinets that were damaged as a result of that leak. On top of that, workers installed new flooring throughout the entire house.
And Ms. Russell could not be happier with the finished product. “They did an amazing job and I really appreciate it! I’m very grateful and I can’t thank [THDF and MOWCTX] enough!”