Weeks after Hurricane Ian, his home burned down

Many of you know Susan and I arrived in Bonita Springs, FL the day after Hurricane Ian devastated the southwest coast of Florida so we could demo, reconstruct and renovate her parents home as it was completely hit by Ian.

You’ve all seen the photos and videos on the internet and television, but when you see the destruction up close and personal, its surreal and haunting.

Events like Ian also show the resilience of people. We met many amazing people that were dealing with their own hurricane damaged homes, but were willing to put others first to help them. One of those people was our dry wall contractor Pablo Cortez, who came to FL from Mexico City in 1979. While he was the drywall contractor, he quickly became our friend. His empathy to everyone and incredible work ethic made the stresses of rebuilding more bearable.

On November 28th, Pablo was working at Susan’s parents house and on his drive home he got a call from his neighbor saying they heard an explosion in Pablo’s garage, which is attached to the house, and his garage was on fire. By the time the fire department arrived, the fire engulfed the whole garage and burned it to the ground. The rest of the house is damaged so extensively that it will be demolished and torn down.

In spite of this devastating loss, the next day he was back in our neighborhood working on our neighbors house even though he lost everything, including all his tools.

We told Pablo we would help him raise money so he could begin rebuilding his home. He said, “going through what I have gone through has made my heart so sad, but hearing this news of help makes my heart strong”.

I hope we can all pull together and provide Pablo and his family a gift of hope as they begin rebuilding their lives.

Thank you.

Pete and Susan Swanson