Fedale non-profit provides free roofs to homeowners in need
By Catherine Kempista
Roofs are not only an essential part of maintaining a healthy home, but they can also be one of the most expensive systems to repair or replace.
When Andrea Sosnitskiy, a single mother of two adopted sons and a social worker who specializes in foster care and adoption services, discovered extensive water damage to the interior of her home, panic set in.
“My youngest son’s bedroom wall was saturated, and water was dripping through his ceiling light fixture,” says Sosnitskiy. “It started leaking down into my kitchen and leaking out of the light fixture. It wasn’t like I could have anybody come out to stop the leak because it was a roof problem.
“With her homeowner’s insurance, she was able to cover the cost of repairs to the interior of her home, but she would still need a new roof on her Elsmere home, built in 1927. Faced with every homeowner’s nightmare scenario of needing a new roof and not being able to afford one, she reached out to a friend who had received a new roof from Roofs from the Heart, a local nonprofit founded by the owners of G. Fedale Roofing and Siding. Roofs from the Heart provide free roofs to homeowners in need.
Seeing The Need
Roofs from the Heart replaces severely damaged and deteriorating roofs free of charge for qualified Delaware homeowners. In many cases, the failed roof creates dangerous and unhealthy conditions for the residents inside the home.
“About eight years ago, G. Fedale was constantly meeting people in desperate need of roofing,” says Kate Domanski, executive director of Roofs from the Heart.
One such meeting came during an appointment for a roofing leak between a veteran living in substandard conditions and project consultant Adam Fedale, who is now G. Fedale CEO. The University of Delaware’s (UD) Center for Community Research & Service Home Repairs Needs Assessment report defines “substandard” as an in-home condition that “poses a risk to the health, safety or physical well-being of occupants, neighbors, or visitors.”
According to Domanski, “The roof and ceiling were caved in, there was mold growing on the floor, and serious interior repairs were needed. The guy, a veteran of our country, just had his head in his hands and said, ‘I know it’s bad, but there’s nothing I can do.’ That’s what really spurred the concept of Roofs from the Heart.”
After completing the necessary repairs to the veteran homeowner’s roof and interior for free in 2016, the team at G. Fedale sought to help others in need. First, they created an application process managed by their company, working with industry partners to provide services and materials at a discount to cover the costs of providing roofs for free. Then, a foundation was established to fund the community work in 2022. And finally in 2023, the community need was so great, Roofs from the Heart was established as a stand-alone entity to help homeowners in crisis.
Today, G. Fedale remains the sole contracted installer on Roofs from the Heart projects and a primary sponsor of the nonprofit. However, Roofs from the Heart’s work is also funded by local foundations, Delaware-based corporations and financial institutions, in-kind donations from roofing suppliers, and nonprofits, like Energize Delaware. They also receive gifts from private donors and are hosting a 5K fundraiser on Sunday, Nov. 10 in Wilmington.
In 2023, Roofs from the Heart provided five new roofs free of charge, and in 2024, they are on target to provide 10. The average roof install costs approximately $13,500.
Part of the Solution
Per UD’s 2022 Home Repairs Needs Assessment report, approximately 25,000 low-income, owner-occupied homes in Delaware are “in need of some kind of repair,” and 5,000 “need repairs extensive enough to be considered in substandard condition.”
To address a statewide need this large, small nonprofits like Roofs from the Heart work with other community nonprofits, such as Milford Housing Development Corporation (MHDC) and the Southbridge Community Development Corporation (SBCDC), to connect to those in need. Oftentimes, a failing roof is just the beginning, and a multi-agency effort is required to address the problem.
According to Jim Purcell, director of energy and healthy homes for MHDC and a founding board member of Roofs from the Heart, “Sometimes, we need Roofs from the Heart or another agency in the community to help out because there’s never enough money to fix these substandard issues in people’s homes.”
MHDC is the state’s contracted emergency home repair provider. To date, it has conducted 215 emergency repairs statewide in 2024.
Recently, both organizations have focused efforts in Wilmington’s Southbridge community in coordination with SBCDC to address substandard housing issues.
“In the development of the collaboration with Roofs from the Heart and other resource partners, we began assessing the housing structures, both exterior and interior, of the residing homeowners living in the targeted area,” says Hanifa Shabazz, executive director of SBCDC. “Roofs from the Heart determined which homes’ roofs were more severe and should be addressed first. A few of the homeowners’ roofs and chimneys were in such disrepair that one required us to reach out to other emergency home repair programs to replace their heating and air systems.”
In that case, the homeowner’s chimney venting system was completely corroded, causing the heating system to vent black smoke into the basement. The homeowner not only qualified for a new HVAC system but also a new roof.
“These are the kind of things that go hand-in-hand in improving these homes that are not very healthy,” says Domanski.
The need around this complex issue remains great, and for organizations like theirs, the goal remains the same — a reality where all Delawareans have a healthy home.
“We are important to residents in need because having a safe, energy and environmentally efficient home adds to the quality of life of the families that live there,” says Shabazz. “Everyone wants to live in a clean, beautiful and safe home.”
— To learn more about Roofs from the Heart, visit RoofsFromTheHeart.org.