Volunteers help Miami veteran with repairs for long-term living after fire

Repairs are wrapping up on the Miami-Dade County home of local veteran Nereida Nuñez, with the help of grant funding from the Wells Fargo Builds program and volunteer work through Rebuilding Together Miami-Dade.

Nuñez, a Miami native, served for four years with the U.S. Army. While in Georgia, she learned that her childhood home in Miami-Dade County had caught fire, and was so damaged that it was uninhabitable. She said that her siblings initially wanted to sell the property, but Nuñez was determined to revive it.

"This is my parents' home," she said. "My father built this home for his family."

According to partners from Wells Fargo and Rebuilding Together, Nuñez spent several decades trying to renovate her home. Rebuilding Together Miami-Dade Executive Director Martina Spolini even said that when Nuñez originally applied for the nonprofit's assistance, her home was too badly damaged for them to step in. However, over the years, Nuñez saved enough money to make some essential repairs and begin the restoration process.

"When I would open up the door and this house was in a shell, I have to say, with courage and confidence, there was no low point because I saw the end," Nuñez said. "I knew that I had the determination and the guts, and knew what it entailed, and that attitude is everything."

Throughout Nuñez's home were decorations that read "Believe," a mindset she said she tried to maintain throughout the years-long restoration process.

"She was able to save enough to take care of the structural work," Spolini said. "Then, we came in and we did all the ceilings, drywall, insulation, electrical lighting, plumbing, kitchen flooring and bathrooms. With Wells Fargo, we're taking care of one of the bathrooms and making it accessible for the long term."

According to The Urban Institute, more than 80% of older adults live independently, often in aging homes for a longer period. As a result, partners with Wells Fargo and Rebuilding Together said that many such homes may require repairs or improvements to adapt to seniors' physical and mental conditions over time.

"We really care about people staying in their homes and aging in place, in their homes, in an environment that is safer for them to live in," Spolini said. "We preserve naturally occurring affordable housing, and we promote intergenerational homeownership and upward mobility, so that people can stay in their homes, they can stay in their communities and pass on their homes to the next generation without being pushed out or displaced."

Through the Wells Fargo Builds program, Rebuilding Together Miami-Dade received a $40,000 grant to address housing issues impacting the South Florida community. Advocates said it was part of a larger, $1.4 million nationwide effort to provide home repairs to more than 90 residents across the United States. Wells Faro has also donated $15,000 to Rebuilding Together Broward County.

"It's amazing. We have a history, a culture in South Florida of being out in the community, and, obviously, during the [COVID-19] pandemic, that came to a standstill," Wells Fargo South Florida Region Executive Hector Ponte said. "Seeing people out in the red shirts in the community again, being able to help out, really makes a big difference."

Nuñez said she looks forward to keeping the house that her father built in the family for generations to come, with plans to pass the property on to her niece.

“I have the opportunity to be here and to maintain it, and that I will," she said.

Those looking for assistance from Rebuilding Together may apply here.