With tarps and pallets on the roof and buckets in the home to catch the leaking rainwater; the Roose family in Tillamook was in desperate need of a new roof. But with medical bills to pay, the nearly $17,000 project seemed like an impossibility for Yvonne Roose and her three boys.
Luckily, with the help of Tillamook Habitat for Humanity, Oswego Roofing and many others, the Roose family received that helping hand they were looking for.

Yvonne, her husband and the boys moved to Tillamook in 2007 and into their current house in 2013. But after her husband passed away in 2016 and Yvonne’s medical bills began to stack up, money became tight for the Roose family. As the roof on their home began to fail this past year, Yvonne knew something needed to be done.
“It had to be fixed, but I could not in any way pay them the original quote,” Yvonne said.
The quote rounded out to $16,500, which was not a possibility for the family, so they began searching for help.

“While I was looking into getting a secondary loan for the roof, the bank suggested I reach out to Habitat for Humanity,” Yvonne said. “I mentioned it to Rick Lofton at Oswego Roofing and from there on it was him and Cami (Aufdermauer) that worked out all the details and I just followed suit.”

Once Lofton reached out to Aufdermauer, Executive Director of Tillamook Habitat, Yvonne was approved to be apart of Habitat’s Ramps and Rails program, which serves seniors, people with disabilities and veterans through in home safety modifications. The goal of the program is to help ensure people are safe in their homes.
Lofton and Aufdermauer then set up a meeting with Malarkey Roofing Products to talk about materials and cost.

“In the past they’ve worked with us and they were willing to donate all the roofing materials for this project, significantly reducing the cost,” Aufdermauer said. “After that, Rick’s crew went to work and they got a dumpster and started tearing into the roof and we were able to get a new roof on her house for well under half the cost because of the donated materials and donated labor.”
Before it was replaced, the roof was in such bad shape that they weren’t sure it was going to last till the spring, according to Lofton.

“It was such a need that the whole thing was covered in tarps and pallets and it was leaking everywhere,” Lofton said. “It wouldn’t have made it through the spring rains. They would’ve lost their home, because once the roof goes, everything falls apart.”

Thanks to Lofton and his crew for the labor, Dallwig Brothers Building Supply, who delivered the materials. Rosenbergs, who provided all the plywood and miscellaneous materials, City Sanitary, which provided drop boxes for disposal, Willy’s Welding, who did the metal for the job and Haltiners, who did the gutter system the project was completed and the house was saved.
Yvonne said the help of all the community organizations has been greatly appreciated and something she hopes others will take advantage of if they need it.

“It blows me away really and the way things worked out, it was truly amazing,” Yvonne said. “It’s something that can benefit anyone that’s on a fixed income like me. I hope that if others have similar projects that they need help will realize that this is a prime way to get a project done within people’s means.”

This project has not only helped out the Roose family, it has also sparked a partnership between many of these local organizations that will continue to work together in the future, like Malarkey Roofing.

“We’ve worked with Habitat for decades and it’s great to be a part of these kinds of projects,” Malarkey Representative Chris Mason said. “Malarkey has always been about helping the community and doing our part when we can.”
Although the bill was cut down significantly from the original retail price, the Roose family still has to pay for a portion of the project. But luckily Rick and Habitat were able to finance the project for them and they’ve already begun to pay it back, which is something Yvonne is happy to do.

“We are putting all our resources together to pay it all back,” Yvonne said. “We want to give it back so they can help others with similar projects because it really meant a lot to us and we hope others can have their needs filled as well.”

by: Max Kirkendall: Tillamook Headlight Herald
Photo Credit: Ashley Rushing Photography LLC