This Ties That Bind Us is sponsored by Matt The Carpet Guy.
SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - For many on Delmarva, times can get tough. That is where a little help from the community comes into play. One local non-profit, Contractors For A Cause, provided handy hands for those in need.
The non-profit Contractors For A Cause specializes in helping veterans, those with disabilities, and or low-income community members on the coast undergo home repairs and installations.
Paul Sciannella with Contractors For A Cause tells CoastTV they install roughly 15 handicap ramps a year, but their work does not stop there. Volunteers with the non-profit also help with grab bars and railings, bathroom conversions, and other home modifications or repairs, such as doors or decks, through their Helping Hands program.
Sciannella says the demand in Sussex County is strong.
"We're trying to help the people who can't afford to take a big chunk out of their savings and do these kind of repairs," Sciannella tells CoastTV. "We did a large fundraiser and bought about $80,000 worth of ramp parts that we keep in a warehouse. So that when someone calls us, we can respond in a matter of days."
In the case of Robert Bogardus, whose wife has been undergoing treatment after a fall, Contractors For A Cause provided a way for his wife to get home safely.
"She can't do certain things. Her whole life has changed in months. She's been in and out of the hospital. She's been in and out of three different rehabs trying to get her back, and we've been trying to get her home for a while," Bogardus says.
After the fall, Bogardus needed a wheelchair ramp to be installed for his wife. Contractors For A Cause answered that call.
"My wife is cheered up. I had been talking to her this morning about, they're here to put the ramp in," says Bogardus. "She's so elated over that."
While the non-profit has completed many jobs in the same Angola Beach and Estates neighborhood Bogardus lives in, they have completed jobs from Berlin, Maryland, all the way up to Lewes, Delaware.
After one of the recent snowstorms that landed on Delmarva, Sciannella says they helped a client whose home had significant damage.
"During a wind storm, his storm door blew off," Sciannella says. "That caused water to penetrate around his front door. So we ended up replacing his front door."
Contractors For A Cause also replaced that client's deck.
One helping hand at a time, the non-profit helps bring accessibility to those in need on Delmarva.Â