Electrician Starts Mission To Fix Elderly Woman's Home After Seeing Its Dismal Condition

Nov 24, 2021 by apost team

Any homeowner knows that sooner or later, appliances and furniture will suffer from daily wear and tear. It's best if you always have some money saved up to repair a leaking or broken pipe, repair some cables or finally fix that one corner of the roof. However, some people are unable to save up as much as they need to completely repair their home, so many simply make do with repairing the most important things and muddling along otherwise.

In August 2020, Gloria, an old lady, noticed that sparks were coming off of one of her light fixtures, and so she decided to ask a neighbor for help. She was on a tight budget and hoped to find a reliable but affordable repairman. She was referred to John Kinney, an electrician who decided shortly after he arrived at Gloria's home to do more than fix her light. He quickly realized that her home was full of problems and gathered up a team of professionals to volunteer in renovating her home.

He, along with his team, set up a fundraiser to raise the money needed for building materials and raised over $63,000 - just enough to give Gloria a better home and some quality of life the elderly lady had been severely lacking.

During times of great chaos and panic, acts of kindness and compassion do not go without thanks. It is in this time, especially, that people need help the most, and while there are some kind hearts out there who do their best to help, others go up and beyond.

According to WHDH, it began when a sweet, old lady named Gloria realized that sparks were coming from a light fixture in her home. She asked her neighbor for assistance and was referred to an electrician. John Kinney, the electrician in question, arrived at her home and began fixing her light when he saw that her home actually had several electrical issues and problems beyond that.

She did not have a stove in her home at all, and her refrigerator was plugged in through an extension cord. She also had several lights that were not working and apparently hadn't been working in a long time. In addition to fixing her light, he decided to help this kind old lady with the rest of her electrical problems.

While working on her lights and the electrical problems of Gloria's home, he also noticed several structural problems the building had. Her ceilings were dangerously low, almost to the point of falling down, and the steps leading up to her home were beyond old and creaking and clearly dangerous to walk on - especially for an elderly lady. Her yard was also full of overgrown vegetation.

She later told him that her home had frequent plumbing issues and that "critters" often made their way inside her home. Kinney decided to help fix her home completely and gathered a team of professionals who would volunteer to fix her home.

The team worked efficiently but still needed money to pay for repairs. They set up a fundraiser to raise money for the needed materials.

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Kinney later said that hundreds of people from all across the nation reached out to donate. He had set the goal at $75,000, but after only two weeks, the fundraiser had already raised over $63,000. At the time of writing, the fundraiser has raised above $100,000 in total. Soon after receiving the money, the group went to work. Kinney's company completely rewired the electrical system in Gloria's home from the ground up, and the other professionals took care of the various other problems.

According to CBS News, local restaurants heard about the ongoing project and even decided to pitch in by providing free meals for all of the volunteers as they were working there. Gloria has also received gifts from people near and far after the video went viral on several news stations.

There is no current update on the project; however, Kinney and some of his fellow tradesmen have since started the charity group Gloria's Gladiators that repairs the homes of those in need. Everyone has continued to make a great effort in helping to give Gloria and others like her a better home. Gloria is extremely grateful for everyone who has contributed to this project and was incredibly touched by the outpouring of compassion. She claims that the entire experience has been something out of a dream.

During a pandemic, this is exactly what the world needs. Acts of kindness really do make the world a better place.

Dan Kinney, John's brother said, "She's just so grateful and she continuously says, 'There's just no words for it'."

According to CBS, Gloria said: "Look at these people…[You] can't even comprehend the gratitude that I have." 

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