North County : Appreciation Is Payoff for Realtors Who Fix Homes

It’s hard to find adequate housing for eight children anywhere, but even four walls crumbling from termite infestation will suffice. That’s why the 10-member Aceves family was living in a house that one visiting real estate agent said should be bulldozed.

When the North Orange County Board of Realtors decided to renovate the Aceves’ Placentia home as part of its Adopt-a-House program, what began as a face lift became major surgery. In some spots, carpet had to be laid over dirt floor; bunk beds were then built for children who normally slept on that floor. The Aceveses had been living without bathroom plumbing for several years because sewage pipes were calcified shut.

In the middle of an often perplexing task of organizing plumbing repairs and other improvementsfor the home, Adopt-a-House coordinator Molly Green would be buoyed by the sight of the eight Aceves children, beaming at her “with sparkle and pleasure in their eyes.”

“There are ups and downs with every project, but this became all ups when I saw their appreciation, “ she recalls.

The pilot program resulted in similar massive repair jobs on owner-occupied homes in five north Orange County cities. Far from just nailing down loose shingles, the program’s professional contractors tackle plumbing, painting, construction and other major repairs as needed.

Those eligible for the free services demonstrated financial need as well as physical disability including physical handicaps or age infirmities.

Other beneficiaries of the program have been a single parent on a fixed income in La Habra, and handicapped or elderly individuals in Yorba Linda, Fullerton and Brea.

The program will be continued next year, and Green is already receiving phone calls from volunteers. Students at Buena Park’s Hope Special Education High School for handicapped young adults have volunteered their services for next year, and this year performed work from landscaping to general custodial tasks for the program.

At the home of Mary Anne Trowbridge and Mary Farber in Brea, the two women were delighted with work performed by the students and other contractors. “You just keep putting things off . . . it was so hot last summer and then I had a heart attack and my daughter went to the hospital, “ said Farber, 74, whose 48-year-old daughter, Mary Anne Trowbridge, has multiple sclerosis. “But what they’ve done has made our lives better.”

Workers put in new wheelchair ramps at the Brea home, did plumbing repairs and other general maintenance. “We’re just two ladies in a folding bed,” Farber said, “but this helps us look at the sunny side.”