Photos: Volunteers renovate homes for Santa Clara County veterans

SAN JOSE — John Migeulgorry was not anticipating a recent coat of paint and a brand new air conditioner and water heater when Lowes and Rebuilding Collectively Silicon Valley partnered to renovate the Vietnam Warfare veteran’s San Jose residence on Tuesday.

“It’s unbelievable — they usually’re all so good. They’re very, very considerate and sort,” Migeulgorry stated of the handfuls of volunteers who helped, including that he initially joked with the challenge organizers that it could take that many people to finish the work his home wanted earlier than they assured him that’s precisely how many individuals would present up.

Migeulgorry, 79, grew up in the home within the 800 block of Sixth Road, which is now valued above $1 million. He stated his mother and father moved in to the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home shortly after it was in-built 1939 and that generations of Migeulgorry have lived in it since at the very least the late Nineteen Forties. He joined the Military in 1967, served in Vietnam in ’68 and returned residence the next yr.

“I’m puzzled. That is in all probability the most effective day of my life and the repairs that have been made are greater than I may ever think about,” Miguelgorry stated.

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - September 20: Lowe's employee Kimberly Montalvo, left, high-fives the homeowner John Migeulgorry, 79, a Vietnam War veteran, on Sept. 20, 2022, in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – September 20: Lowe’s worker Kimberly Montalvo, left, high-fives the home-owner John Migeulgorry, 79, a Vietnam Warfare veteran, on Sept. 20, 2022, in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group) 

The work on Migeulgorry’s residence was one in every of three renovations the organizations agreed to finish for veterans throughout Santa Clara County on Tuesday — yet another in San Jose and one other in Morgan Hill. For Rebuilding Collectively Silicon Valley, which has assisted county residents with no-cost residence repairs since 1991, that is one in every of about 300 comparable renovations the nonprofit will full this yr.

To Deanne Everton, govt director at Rebuilding Collectively Silicon Valley, the work is about greater than remodeling Migeulgorry’s residence into an asset for the group.

“Having a protected house is a proper for everybody and having the ability to protect that for a weak group inside our group is so necessary,” Everton stated. “For John right this moment, seeing the enjoyment on his face and one in every of his quotes was, ‘I believe this is likely to be the most effective day of my life.’ So, not a nasty day at work.”

  • SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - September 20: Lowe’s employees Kimberly Montalvo,...

    SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - September 20: Lowe’s workers Kimberly Montalvo, left, and Ethan Lechich paint the home of John Migeulgorry, 79, a Vietnam Warfare veteran, on Sept. 20, 2022, in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group)

  • SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - September 20: Lowe’s employee Buena Acevedo...

    SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - September 20: Lowe’s worker Buena Acevedo paints the home of ohn Migeulgorry, 79, a Vietnam Warfare veteran, on Sept. 20, 2022, in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group)

  • SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - September 20: Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley’s...

    SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - September 20: Rebuilding Collectively Silicon Valley’s upkeep technician Abraham Lopez, middle, paints the home of John Migeulgorry, 79, a Vietnam Warfare veteran, on Sept. 20, 2022, in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group)

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The repairs accomplished Tuesday would have price an estimated $90,000, however the labor and supplies have been donated by Lowe’s. They included exterior vinyl board and skirt replacements and landscaping, akin to laying bark close to crops to beautify Migeulgorry’s yard.

The three residence renovations for Santa Clara County veterans are a part of a nationwide initiative by Lowe’s to assist vets and their households this fall. The house enchancment retailer donated $3.3 million to that effort, which funded the renovation of 79 properties nationwide.

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