Another new home for a retired couple who lost everything during Hurricane Sandy

Image source: NYDN – Burt and Jeanne Metz

Over the weekend we told you about Breezy Point homeowner Kim Leib, whose home was destroyed during Hurricane Sandy, and was given a brand new home, built by Eco Building Products. Now from NY1 and the NY Daily News, we’ve heard a second heartwarming story about Roxbury couple Burt and Jeanne Metz, and their daughter Johanna-Claire Metz, who were given a brand new home, courtesy of Operation Blessing (OB). The OB volunteers spent three weeks, starting in mid-December, building the home without the couple knowing this was to be the end result – they thought the volunteers (300 were involved) would be just gutting the home and putting up some sheet rock! So imagine their surprise when they came to realize what had happened.

The house was seriously damaged during Hurricane Sandy. They had six feet of water in there, and after the storm subsided, everything started to mold – walls and furniture. Without a place to live, they moved from place to place, living in three different locations. Now they are home.

Bill Horan, President of  Operation Blessing, says “We try to bring a little bit of light into dark places where there has been disasters and all sorts of problems. We’ve done this all over the world. We’d like to do this for everybody, but we just can’t. So we manage volunteers, we do other kinds of relief work here and we’ve been doing this for a very long time and it never gets old.” The organization has worked on 400 houses in Queens since Hurricane Sandy hit.

Queens Couple Surprised With Completely Rebuilt Home By Volunteer Group [NY1]
Breezy Point couple surprised with newly renovated home after it was destroyed by Sandy [NYDN]
Breezy Point homeowner Kim Leib given brand new home by Eco Building Products, post-Sandy [QNYC]