Roofing Company Teams Up with Union to Donate New Roof to Illinois Women’s Shelter

Temporary repairs made over the years were no longer holding and the shelter had to regularly place buckets inside to catch the rain.

The Harbor House, a shelter serving victims of domestic violence, is housed in a facility that was more than 50 years old and its roof was failing. They started a campaign to try to raise money to replace the roof, estimated to be close to $40,000 to replace.

When Rende Langlois of Langlois Roofing Inc. saw a news story about the campaign, he wanted to help. He contacted a board member and said that he would donate the roof. The Kankakee Daily Journal reported that from tear off to cleanup, the project was completed in less than six hours. Janice Krizik-Schmidt, president of Harbor House, told the Daily Journal the she cried when she found out about the generous offer and that she was “totally blown away by his generosity.”

Langlois met with union laborers from Sheet Metal Workers Local 265 in Carol Stream and United Union of Roofers and Waterproofers Local 11, explained the situation and asked if they would be willing to donate their time. They agreed.

“I’m not comfortable talking about this in public. I didn’t do it for publicity,” Langlois told the Daily Journal. “But if it inspires someone else to help with construction projects over there, I’m all for it. I told everyone at the meeting that we’ve been in this community for 56 years. This is what you do — you help your community. I’m blessed to be able to do this.”

Read the full news story here.

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