Ridgeline Exteriors, Fuller Center volunteers team up to assist Vietnam veteran

Ridgeline Exterior employees and Fuller Center volunteers
celebrate after putting as new roof on the home of ailing
Vietnam veteran Michael Porter of Raymond on
Veterans Day. PHOTO BY LORRAINE GLOWCZAK 

By Lorraine Glowczak

 

It takes a bit more effort these days to see that good things still happen in the world; and when there is an attempt to make positive change, it may feel as if it is just a drop in a bottomless bucket. But an area business and a local non-profit organization combined their efforts to fill the ocean of challenges for four area residents last Thursday on Veterans Day.

Among those to receive assistance included Vietnam veteran, Michael Porter of Raymond. Porter, who has been diagnosed with Agent Orange poisoning and experiences neuropathy received a free roof provided by Ridgeline Exteriors, a professional exterior and roofing company based out of Sanford.

Porter was a carpenter all through his adult life before his physical challenges required retirement. “I rebuilt the entire inside of my house including the roof,” Porter said, referring to the home he has lived in for the past 35 years. “I spent half of my life building roofs and it was annoying as all get out that I could not be on my roof helping them out.”

The Vietnam Veteran entered the U.S. Marine Corp in February 1968. He was shot in the line of duty and was sent home due to his injuries in January 1969. Porter shares his gratitude to Ridgeline Exteriors and its employees.

“I really appreciate what they did for me. They did a wonderful job. It was so fun to see all those volunteers in my yard and it was great having all those people around,” said Porter who has no family nearby but says he is fortunate to have a traveling nurse and a housekeeper assigned by the Veterans Administration to check in on him. 

The volunteers that Porter referred to were not only the Ridgeline Exteriors employees but board members and friends of the Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing, a local nonprofit that provides safe and adequate housing repairs for older adults who own their own homes and are aging in place. 

The Fuller Center learned of Porter’s needs through a town of Raymond contact and had helped him repair and move a shed about three months ago. They were there with the professional roofers to celebrate the collaborative endeavors between the two organizations before the team of Fuller Center volunteers dispersed to other worksites. 

“It was during the repair effort at Michael’s early this summer that we realized the roof needed to be replaced,” Diane Dunton Bruni, President of the Fuller Center said. “As board members, we are limited in professional skills such as roof repair and when we discovered Ridgeline Exteriors offers free roofing to veterans, we reached out immediately.” 

The Fuller Center called Vice President of Sales at Ridgeline, Larry Ewing, to ask if the company would agree to help Porter out. The results were positive.

“We have offered a free roof to one veteran per year for a while now,” Ewing said. “Here at Ridgeline Exteriors, we have a soft spot for our veterans. And Wayne Perry, the owner, holds a special place in his heart for Vietnam vets as his uncle served in that war and he wants to honor those soldiers who were treated with hostility upon their return back to the states.

While the professional roofers continued to complete their project, the Fuller Center volunteers separated in teams of four to offer services such as small home repair, leaf raking, hedge cutting, gutter cleaning to other older adults in the area. John and Linda Gregoire of Windham were among those to receive assistance.

“We’re so grateful for the help,” Linda said. Her husband John was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord) in 2007. 

“[The volunteers] cleaned the gutters and rented a bush hog to cut back several years of overgrowth that had taken over the yard. They brought it back to the yard I remembered and we once enjoyed so much. It was such a big job and I could not have done it by myself.”

Helping others is important to the Fuller Center and they realize they cannot do it all on their own.

“We believe every older adult should never be prevented from living in their home where they have raised their children and made lifelong memories despite the difficulties they may face,”  

Dunton Bruni said. “Collaborations with other organizations such as Ridgeline Exteriors not only allows the Fuller Center to fulfill its mission and purpose, but it increases the potential for change – and offers more hope to more people.”

Although current times and situations can drag the spirit down, there are still droplets of goodness that can be captured. The collaboration of Ridgeline Exteriors and the Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing makes efforts to do just that. As St. Teresa of Calcutta is quoted as saying, “We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.”

To learn more about Ridgeline Exteriors, which also provides siding, windows and gutter work, call 207-432-0810 or visit them online at https://ridgelineyourhome.com or on Facebook at RidgelineExteriorsME.

To volunteer, donate or learn more about the Sebago Lakes Fuller Center for Housing, visit them online at https://sebagofullerhousing.org/ or follow them on Facebook at Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing. <