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Learn about the generous donors who have established charitable funds through Stark Community Foundation.
In partnership with The Repository, every Monday, Stark Community Foundation highlights positive happenings in our community. Here’s to Good News Mondays!
When an Alliance resident contacted local nonprofit construction ministry Hammer & Nails about replacing her front porch this year, she knew it would take close to a miracle to make it happen. The nearly $8,000 project was costly and seemingly unattainable until Fred Olivieri Construction Co. stepped in to make it happen.
“I prayed with the homeowner, Kathy, that day on her porch,” said Darrin Noble, Hammer & Nails project manager. “As we looked at the rotted, broken steps and the soft spots in the floorboards, we asked that God provide the people and the funds needed to complete the job. If we were to pull $7,000 or $8,000 out of our budget to do a project like this, there would be several other projects that wouldn’t be able to get done.”
A few months later, Olivieri Construction not only took on this job, funding all of the materials and providing teams of volunteers to help with the labor, but also completed a second front porch replacement project for the organization. Thanks to the local company and its team of skillful volunteers, two homeowners were given a safe, beautiful update to their home.
“Complete porch replacements are big undertakings. Yet, because of Fred Olivieri’s commitment and hard work, we finished both projects back-to-back,” said Noble. “The volunteers that worked on both job sites were top-notch. Not only were they kind and compassionate, but also skillful. You could see people with different skill sets working side-by-side with other individuals that they might not get to work with on a daily basis. It was incredible to see these volunteers helping each other out and supporting one another to complete the work.”
Kathy is just one of over 2,000 residents Hammer & Nails has helped since inception in 2000. Its mission is to better the quality of life for disadvantaged Stark County homeowners through home and property improvements. In response to an outpouring of volunteer interest, the organization recently created an Adopt-A-Project initiative for individuals to choose a project they want to help fund, and then have the chance to see it through to completion by volunteering. Learn more about this initiative at www.hammerandnails.org.