BLEIBERVILLE, Texas – Inside their small, humble, home in Bleiberville, Texas, Charles Allen and his wife Staci are doing their best to hold things together financially while parts of their 35-year-old home are literally falling apart.
By parts, we mean the roof that is crumbling right over their heads.
“This whole thing is devastating, to have to live this way for so long,” Charles Allen said. “We’ve never had to live this way, never had to live in fear for our very lives or anything.”
The fear Charles and his wife are living with is the daily threat of their entire roof falling-in on them. Not just them, but their three young grandchildren, who they are helping to raise right now.
“The whole roof could collapse and possibly kill one of us, or hurt the kids, or kill the kids,” Staci Allen said. “That is the way it is.”
The problem is that during Hurricane Harvey several large trees came crashing down on the Allens’ home, punching a series of large holes through the roof.
For three years now, the Allens have had water gushing into their home, rotting out the substructure of the roof, destroying the interior ceilings and raining in on them.
“Because of all our health problems, me and my husband, we are both cancer survivors, we can’t afford to fix this failing roof and if we don’t get some help, I don’t know what we will do”, said Staci Allen, fighting back tears.
Perhaps the saddest part is that Charles spent 24 years of his life as an undercover narcotics officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety. He put countless numbers of drug dealers behind bars.
Now, struggling with severe health issues and living on a small pension, he simply cannot afford to even fix the rotten roof that is coming apart right over his head.
“We just really need some help,” Charles Allen said. “When we applied to FEMA after Harvey we were turned down and now we just can’t afford to pay the $10,000 or more dollars it will take to save our home.”
For all that Charles has done for Texas, we are about to do something for him.
The Spencer Solves It team enlisted the help of the crew at The Roof Repair Squad, a company based in Katy. This company, which specializes in repairing and replacing both residential and commercial roofs, has agreed to fully restore the Allens home inside and out for free.
The job will involve a week of work repairing all of the interior ceiling and wall damage as well as the substructure roof repair and, of course, replacing the roof completely with new paper and shingles. The job will cost at least $15,000 and involve a lot of manpower.
“Bill, whenever you approach us, we are always ready to help,” Roof Repair Squad president Jorge Bogran, told KPRC 2 reporter Bill Spencer. “Especially when we can help a man who has risked so much, who has given so much to help our community and helped keep all of us safe. We are thrilled to help.”
The real work begins and within weeks the Allens will never have to worry about his roof falling in again.
