May 2008
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While Norma and Dean DeLibertis’ 23-year-old daughter was trying to recover from a drug addiction in 2007, the Las Vegas residents received some life-changing news. Their three grandchildren—ages one, two and three—would be placed in foster care unless someone stepped up.
The devoted grandparents jumped at the chance to take in the kids. Raising them has been a labor of love, but the financial toll of three extra mouths to feed left the family in need of assistance to make their old, decaying bathroom safe for the children.
The DeLibertis family sent in an application to Rebuilding Hope, an annual community outreach program sponsored by the Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB) and Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Las Vegas Chapter, asking to have their bathroom remodeled. Each year, Rebuilding Hope collects up to 100 applications and chooses one deserving family to have the room of its choice refurbished.
“We went through the applications and there were some very worthy recipients, but we chose this family after doing a site visit and seeing that they had a bathroom that wasn’t fit to bathe the kids in,” says Brian Scroggins, vice president of the ABC chapter. “We felt like they had a need for it.”
Workers began tearing out the old fixtures and sheet rock on March 4, and by the end of the following week the DeLibertis family had an updated bathroom with a new tub, toilet, cabinets, drywall, tile and exhaust fans.
“The decay was so bad we decided to rebuild it completely,” says Art Nadler, public information officer for NSCB. “We just ripped everything out and started over.”
ABC’s Las Vegas Chapter and its member companies donated all of the labor and materials for the project and committed to making the experience as uplifting as possible for the DeLibertis family. One of the volunteer companies, Aqua Plumbing of North Las Vegas, showed up on the first day of work with clothes and toys for the kids.
ABC companies also contributed more than $500 to stock the bathroom with towels, towel bars and toothbrush holders.
“When the bathroom was completed, we wanted it to look nice and homey and as inviting as possible,” Scroggins says.
Rebuilding Hope begins accepting applications each November for a new remodeling project that takes place after the first of the year.
“Last year we remodeled a kitchen for a family and we’ll definitely be doing this again next year,” Scroggins says. “This is designed to be an ongoing community outreach project.”
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