Call for Action team helps get Detroit woman's roof fixed

(WXYZ) - Inside her 100-year-old Detroit home on Stockton Avenue, Ollie May Young feeds applesauce to her younger sister Mandy.

You see, for 35–years now Ollie May has been waiting hand and foot on Mandy because Mandy is really just like a small child. 

She suffers from cerebral palsy in its most severe form, which means Mandy can’t walk, can’t talk, and is incapable of caring for herself.

 “I take care of my sister like you would a little baby,” Ollie says with tears in her eyes. “I love my sister more than anything and I’m going to take care of her best I can for as long as I live.”

The problem is Ollie May is now in danger of losing custody of her younger sister, all because of several giant holes in her rapidly deteriorating roof. 

When the rain falls and the snow comes down it comes down right inside Ollie’s home, and Ollie has been told if she doesn’t fix the problem her sister will be taken away and placed in foster care.

So, Ollie called me and the Call for Action team for help .

And now, we have asked the roofing experts at Mr. Roof in Ann Arbor to inspect the home and determine what it will take to fix her roof once and for all.

Jerry Laughman, a roofing tech for Mr. Roof says, ”this roof is completely gone, it’s not a roof we can fix, it has to be totally torn off - re-decked and rebuilt.”

Jerry estimates the cost of this job will run $14,000 to $15,000 minimum.  But Mr. Roof has generously agreed to do the entire job for free.

It’s tragic that Ollie and her sister have been living like this for at least 10 years, but they could never afford to pay a roofing company to fix the roof - both women survive on Social Security benefits alone - about $1,400 worth every month.

Now the cost of this job does not matter anymore. 

In two to three weeks, Mr. Roof will start work and when the roofers are finished, you will never know there was anything wrong with Ollie’s roof.