(Tainan City) Anding District Office’s Anding Charity Organization took advantage of a sunny week after southern Taiwan was pounded with torrential downpours the previous week. On June 28, the organization’s members went to the Su family household, where they renovated a roof plagued by incessant roof leaks. The organization took into consideration that the roof’s sheet metal wasn’t adequately water resistant. The roof hadn’t been repaired for years, and this was the primary reason the house suffered from a leaky roof. Mr. Wu, a sheet metal construction expert and Anding Charity Organization volunteer, took the lead for this renovation effort. Sandwich panel-style sheet metal made from high-quality material that’s water resistant replaced the roof’s old sheet metal, thereby ensuring that the Su family will no longer have to worry about roof leaks causing efflorescence to spread, or walls with mold. The house now offers everything a functional living space should.
Funds for this Anding Charity Organization renovation effort came from the city government’s Bureau of Social Affairs’ Low Income and Lower-Middle Income Subsidy for Improving the Living Spaces of the Elderly. Mr. Wu utilized his expertise in sheet metal construction by first carrying out an on-site inspection and then determining renovation methods. He suggested using sandwich panel-style sheet metal to the house’s owner because it’d make the roof more waterproof as well as keep the interior cooler during sunny days. The property’s wooden ceiling beams were rotting and they didn’t offer enough support, so the crew replaced them with a steel structure in order to make the house safer overall. In the end, the local charity organization finished their job without a hitch.
The recipient of this renovation project is an unmarried elderly woman who never had children. Despite qualifying for low income household living subsidies, this money only covers her living expenses. Struggling to make ends meet, she was never able to come up with the money necessary for repair work, resulting in her having no other option but to live in a house with a leaky roof. This repair effort not only solved a leaky roof that had plagued the house for years, as the sandwich panel-style sheet metal’s thermal installation keeps the interior cooler, creating a much more comfortable living space. The charity organization didn’t stop there; it also contacted the district office’s Social Affairs Section in order to help Ms. Su apply for welfare services. The house owner suffers from glaucoma, which has gotten progressively worse in recent years and makes it hard for her to move about. Therefore, the organization applied for home care services (including the meal delivery program for the homes of senior citizens). People working in care services will now regularly go to her home to aid her with daily living activities, aspects involving her body’s health, and, when necessary, she’ll be able to receive immediate care.
Anding District Chief Liu Shih-Hsiung explained that Anding Charity Organization isn’t just doing physical work where they renovate houses. The essence of charitable renovation is that, once their living spaces are made better, the recipients enjoy a higher quality of life because both their physical and mental health have improved. During their time renovating, volunteers found out that the owner’s glaucoma was so severe that it was negatively impacting her life, so they applied for a combination of long-term care services. Back when it was founded, the charity organization’s objective was providing a variety of services just like it did for the Su family.
Contact: Anding District Office, Social Affairs Section, Li Chia-lun, Phone: 5921116 Ext. 128