SAINT CLAIR — Alena Spears, a disabled Air Force Special Forces veteran, insists veterans don’t want a hand-out, even when they’re struggling.
Facing foreclosure on her Jalappa home, she’s already had utilities problems, her basement is flooded, and her Subaru’s in need of repair. Spears decided to volunteer with the We Agape You Inc. organization, after attending Friday’s open house of a WAY refurbished home, at 11 N. Second St., Saint Clair. She said she wanted to give back after the organization’s volunteers said they would help her with car repairs and with obtaining a part-time job.
“I’d like to be able to work for the help,” she said.
Spears actually has worked in demolition, she said, and was a former property maintenance manager in Indiana. She also has landscaping skills.
“We never turn our heroes away — never,” the Rev. Randolph Simmons, WAY president, told Spears and those gathered for the open house.
Greeting visitors were Shane Minnich, Wells Fargo Schuylkill district manager, Pottsville; Patrick Curran, area sales manager for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; Tish Fishburn, home mortgage consultant for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; Peter Balletta, branch manager, Wells Fargo in Park Plaza, Pottsville; Joelle Dennis, a Realtor and designer with Keller Williams Realty Group, Limerick; Don Snowell, a Pottsville real estate developer with D&B Realty; and “Community Charities” and “Helping Hands Home Ownership.” Snowell is also a WAY volunteer.
Wells Fargo donated the 11 N. Second St. home through the Community & Urban Stabilization Program, known as CUSP. Since 2009, according to Curran, 8,800 homes have been donated. “We like giving these homes to organizations that help their local communities,” Curran said. Wells Fargo has a great relationship with WAY, he said. It enables Wells Fargo to join in the mission of assisting veterans, and low- to moderate-income residents in need of housing.
The Saint Clair home is the second house rehabilitated by the WAY nonprofit group in Schuylkill County. It is a seven bedroom home that could accommodate a large family or could be used through social agencies to house veterans, women in crisis or other groups in need. The first WAY home in Port Carbon was just sold lastweek, Simmons said.
While Spears has agreed to volunteer her services to WAY, the organization announced in an email Sunday it has offered Spears assistance, opening up a Go Fund Me page for her at www.gofundme.com/alenas-house-repairs.
“Her furnace broke, causing oil to leak all over the basement floor. To date, the oil is still present and creating strong fumes throughout the house, which are affecting her four cats and one dog. Alena had to use electric heaters throughout the home because of the broken furnace, causing an electric bill of over $1,400. There is no hot water for bathing due to broken pipes,” the page states.
“Alena Spears was referred to We Agape You Inc. by Aaron Dohner, CareerLink Specialist. We Agape You Inc. is raising funds and finding contractors who can assist this American hero. All donations to this campaign will be used directly to benefit Alena and the repairs needed in her home.”
For more information on WAY, visit the website www.weagapeyou.org or call 570-392-3317.
Contact the writer: ; 570-628-6007