Carol's "New" Home - Greater Des Moines Habitat

Carol couldn't sleep.

Raccoons, woodpeckers, and squirrels had chewed through her siding and insulation, directly into her bedroom closet. Each night when she went to bed, she could hear the critters constantly scratching at the thin drywall. Restful sleep can be hard to come by when your home doesn't feel secure.

Like all houses, Carol's had experienced normal wear and tear throughout the years. After her husband passed away, handling repairs without help became more difficult. When animals got through her siding, deck boards began coming up, and the kitchen began to leak, she knew she needed some help.

Carol remembered that years ago, she had seen large groups of workers repairing a neighbor's house. She had approached the neighbor and learned that Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity's Home Preservation Program was helping provide critical repairs and improvements for her neighbor's home.

Multiple times, Carol had hired people who tried to evict the animals that were damaging her home, but she was reluctant to seek out major home repairs or improvements. "I'm from a family, a culture, of making do," she said, "We just get along and make it work, but some things I couldn't continue to make work."

Carol partnered with Habitat's Home Preservation Program in 2024 to repair and improve her home. During the first Habitat home visit, she explained the issues to Don, a Habitat staff member, who requested to assess the rest of the house. Instantly, he began identifying improvements and repairs that Carol had not thought possible.

She recalled him looking into her bathroom, saying "Do you want a walk-in shower?" He also noticed damage around some windows and offered to repair the front path her late husband made, which she could no longer walk on.

Carol said she appreciated the extra care and consideration she received. "He was looking out. I didn't want to ask for a whole bunch of stuff," she said, "I didn't want to get carried away."

After learning about all the work Habitat planned to do, Carol couldn't believe it.

"It's just amazing because I'm just a plain, simple person… those wonderful things happen to other people."

As Carol waited for the work to begin, she remained in disbelief. "The thought of it was overwhelming," she said. "I kept saying, 'that's just too good to be true, I can't see them doing all of that." Habitat workers were set to replace her deck, replace her furnace, repair the path to her front door, fix the damaged siding and insulation, and install a walk-in tub to make her bathroom safer.

As the work started, her disbelief grew into excitement, "When they started moving, I couldn't believe it…It was just so much to offer." She recalls the Habitat Home Preservation team working quickly, completing things one after another or even simultaneously, and going above and beyond in their efforts. "The contractors and workers were just the greatest people," she said.

Repairs and improvements that Carol had never dreamed of were being completed before her eyes. "All of these people came and they were just coming out of the woodwork and I was just so amazed," she said. As the projects progressed, workers also built an accessibility ramp on the new deck, patched a burst pipe by the furnace, installed an exhaust fan in the bathroom over her new walk-in tub, repaired the ceiling in her living room, and more.

Now, Carol has started to save money on her electrical bill due to the furnace repairs and continues to thrive in her home. "It is so comfortable, so warm" she said, "I don't hear when it rains at night now."

After over forty years, Carol said,