Louise Saindon is 82 years old and she has lived in her current house for 77 years. That means she moved there when she was 5 years old and has never left.
Over the course of her time there, the little town of Sloan’s Lake has changed a lot. And so has her house. While she still loves it dearly, it needed some changes to be made more livable.
Because she’s been there so long, many people in the neighborhood know her well.
One benefit of having a small community is that people know how to look out for one another and what to look out for. Saindon’s neighbor, Marsha Cannady, is one of those people who knows the ins and outs of Louise’s life and always knows what to monitor for, like any good neighbor would do. Cannady tells Denver 7:
“For years, I’ve just been seeing her house over here every time it snows, and the first thing I do is make sure her roof is still standing…Investors move in and different people move in. I feel like some of the old neighbors get moved out and they just need help sometimes. I just didn’t want her to get kicked out of the neighborhood. She’s been here for 77 years, she deserves to be here.”
In a town that was experiencing a lot of change, Saindon was a constant. People appreciated that.
Most people who heard that Saindon had lived in her house for 77 years felt that she deserved whatever she needed to stay there as long as she wanted. So when people started to realize that her roof was dilapidated and falling in, they wanted to pitch in and help her get it fixed.
Upon hearing her story, the company Expert Exteriors decided to take her on as a client for free. The company believed that despite all the development happening in her neighborhood, Saindon should be able to live there as long as she wanted with ease.
A lot of people pitched in to help the restoration effort for free.
People like Chris Acevedo, who was one of 24 Expert Exteriors employees who were moved to help out. Chris explains his motivation by saying:
“We are giving back and I actually want to be part of this, so I want to take part of my time, my personal time, to make sure they get a roof.”
In addition to updating the roof and gutters, volunteers also pulled weeds out of her front lawn.
Louise Saindon was touched by how much work people dedicated to her house.
According to Cannady, Saindon expressed her gratitude profusely. Cannady relates the story:
“I asked her how she was doing and she said, ‘They’re helping me make new memories,’ and I love that.”
Although her roof is restored, the work may not be fully over.
Now, people are enthusiastic to help Saindon restore her home to its original glory. Saindon has beautiful memories from girlhood of spending time on her beloved porch. The porch and archway had unfortunately rotted away with time, but Expert Exteriors are also hoping to find someone who can help restore that. So many people have become dedicated to helping this woman restore the house she loves so much.