Thomas, a Vietnam War veteran, found himself in a tricky situation.

The man he had hired to fix his roof after the hail storm in 2014 had asked him for another check without finishing the job, due to a miscommunication about how much of the roof Thomas wanted fixed.

“My friend had introduced me to him,” Thomas said, “so I went through my insurance and I got some quotes and I chose him.” Thomas was left with the main portion of his split level house’s roof badly in need of repair and no financing with which to finish it.

Booted from his insurance plan, Thomas found himself without homeowners insurance, without a functional roof, and without any idea where to turn to next.

“I’m disabled, I’m on disability and social security and I have enough each month for groceries and that’s it, and this month my sticker on my car was due, taxes were due, and I said I just can’t do it.”

Luckily, Thomas was pointed in the direction of NeighborWorks of Western Vermont by his social worker.

“She said Tom, why don’t you call NeighborWorks, and so I did, I did all those things with them to see if I was qualified and I was and so Ron came out, really nice guy, and took pictures and everything and said here’s what we’re going to do.”

Thomas sat down with Ron Ryan, one of NeighborWorks’ Home Repair specialists, and decided on the scope of work that would make Thomas’s house healthy and safe. Then, he worked out the financing with NeighborWorks’ lender.

“I won’t take something that I don’t think I can handle,” said Thomas, mentioning that the loan payments he worked out with NeighborWorks’ lender are manageable and even a bit lower than what he thought he could afford.

“I’ve been trying to pay a little more on it,” to pay it off even sooner, he adds.

“The work started just before the first storm, and they were done in a week,” Thomas says. “They did a really nice job, way more than I thought they were going to do for me, front and back porches, and they finished right before Christmas.”

These days, Thomas spends time in his home with his beagle Cheyenne, making whistles, walking sticks, and dream catchers by hand. “I can’t thank them enough,” he says. “It’s been going good, now my house is warm, and me and my beagle, we’re happy.”

“I’m glad to know NeighborWorks is out there helping somebody,” Thomas says. “It seems like everyone else is out there to get you.”

“It’s a miracle there are people out there like NeighborWorks.”