New Bern, NC – Mary C. Campbell moved into her house in 1989 and, from the start, poured love and hard work into making it a home. But decades later, Hurricane Matthew passed through town, badly damaging the beloved family home she had built. “The storm blew off a lot of shingles, so we had to tarp the roof,” she says. “We had water come under the house, which pulled down the insulation and duct work. The storm also destroyed the flashing on the roof, which allowed more water to get inside.”
A few days later, Campbell got an unpleasant surprise when she walked into the kitchen. “There were a million ants everywhere,” she says. Lacking the financial resources to make anything other than small repairs, Campbell still had a tarp on her roof when Hurricane Florence arrived and caused even more damage.
Campbell began researching financial assistance options and applied to ReBuild NC in spring 2019. Once she was approved, ReBuild NC assigned a contractor and her home’s rehabilitation began the week after Thanksgiving.
The rehabilitation took an unplanned direction when contractors went into a crawl space and uncovered more damage from water rot. Campbell says, “My house probably would have fallen within a year or two. They got approval to fix the rot, too, and now I feel solid and safe. I feel like I’m getting a whole new house.”
“I couldn’t ask for a better crew,” she says. “All of them were friendly and professional. They were very concerned about making sure everything was done to my satisfaction. I’m so proud, I’m like a peacock.”
Campbell tells everyone she can about ReBuild NC. “You can’t top it,” she says. “If they can help you, and you get that call — oh, man. You just jump up and down.”