Alexis Senge JohnsonMs. Lipofsky’s strong will to fight for her home never wavered. It was in December of 2006 that she reached out to WFTV Channel 9’s Reporter Todd Ulrich to help her. He interviewed her contractor and warned him that he would be airing her story. WFTV described her as a pioneer woman since she was living in a home that was almost gutted. She explained on the feature story that she didn’t understand how people could be so heartless and explained the process by saying, “there’s not one thing that they’ve started that they finished.”
Although the contractor claimed that Ms. Lipofsky was an impossible client, the threat of the report being aired on television was enough to force him back to work on her home. Unfortunately, by the time he arrived she had already given him $65,000 and he was still asking for more. July of 2007 brought another disaster into Ms. Lipofsky’s life. The company that she was working for downsized and let her go along with roughly 200 other employees. Not having steady income flowing in made finishing her home repairs almost impossible on her own. By 2009 she was out of money for the project and eating tuna out of cans with her cats at the breakfast table each morning. Thinking the daily ritual was a sweet moment of bonding she phoned her daughter to share the story. Within moments her daughter told her it was time she pack up and move in with her as she was genuinely worried about her mother.
After moving out, or divorcing her home as Ms. Lipofsky remembers it, a neighbor called to let her know that some squatters in the house behind hers were trying to steal her utilities. Immediately she shut everything off since she was no longer residing in the house. Standing outside on her porch Ms. Lipofsky realized that her original contractor walked away with $65,000 from her insurance company and over $7,000 straight out of her pocket. All she had to show for it was a partially finished roof that leaked, improper siding, walls that were left without proper insulation and a mostly unfinished house.
Three years later, while still living in her daughter’s house, Ms. Lipofsky saw a commercial that brought back her dream of homeownership. While watching HGTV one day she saw Rebuilding Together’s “Raise A Roof” Campaign commercial and it inspired her to look into the work they do. Upon researching Rebuilding Together she learned that they help senior citizens and low-income families and she hoped they would help her. Quickly she reached out to the national organization and they sprang to action. It was Rebuilding Together’s Orlando affiliate that came to view Ms. Lipofsky’s house and she said how she just couldn’t believe that someone was taking the time to consider helping her. She called Rebuilding Together her angel and repeatedly expressed how she couldn’t believe that they were really coming to fix her house.
Disaster relief is strong focus of Rebuilding Together as they believe that everyone deserves to live in a safe and healthy home. For more than 30 years, Rebuilding Together has provided extensive home rehabilitation and modification services to homeowners in-need and it’s safe to say that Ms. Lipofsky is finally in good hands. However, they won’t be doing it alone. They are teaming up with some very special sponsors who are all committed to seeing Ms. Lipofsky return to the independence of living on her own again.
