Care Free Homes, Inc. surprised Hilda Lopes of New Bedford with a new roof; the frontline worker was a finalist in their annual New Year, New Roof Giveaway for 2021.

Neighbors, friends, and family nominated deserving, in-need homeowners from Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and Rhode Island for the roof giveaway earlier this month. Care Free Homes selected five finalists from the nominees who demonstrated selfless service and outstanding citizenship. The community voted online to choose the winner. This is the company’s sixth roof giveaway. You can see the surprise reveal below.

Thanks to a partnership with GAF Roofing and Care Free Homes, Lopes will receive a GAF Timberline HD roofing system at absolutely no cost. Community Partners of the New Year, New Roof Giveaway are United Way of Greater New Bedford, United Way of Greater Fall River, and Black Tie Cookies. United Way helped spread the word and connect homeowners with the program. Black Tie Cookies donated gourmet cookie bouquets to Lopes and her coworkers.

Photo contributed by Stephanie Pickup of Care Free Homes, Inc.
Photo contributed by Stephanie Pickup of Care Free Homes, Inc.
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The winner’s sister nominated her for this contest. Below is the submission that was sent:

“I would like to nominate my sister, Hilda Lopes. She raised her son as a single parent and currently works 32 hours as an essential frontline worker at St. Luke’s Hospital. As an Emergency Room Greeter, Hilda is responsible for patient check-in and triage. She has received many commendations from SouthCoast Health for her positive attitude, hard work, and selfless acts of kindness and empathy towards patients. She is loved by coworkers and patients alike because she goes above and beyond in her job and the needs of patients. She was a personal care assistant for my son, who has Autism and seizures, for four years. She was the person to catch his very first seizure in which he was med-flighted to Boston. Hilda was also there when my son almost drowned. He wasn’t breathing and it was Hilda who helped me perform CPR to save his life.

She bought a house on a meager income and struggles to pay her bills. The roof on her house leaks in multiple places and is literally falling apart. At one point she was finally able to save a decent amount for a down payment on a new roof; however, tragedy struck our family and our oldest brother unexpectedly passed away in August of 2016. Hilda didn’t think twice and offered all of her savings to help the family pay for funeral expenses. My sister has always sacrificed for others and gone without herself. My sister cared for our Dad for many years until he passed away in 2004. During that time, she worked two jobs raising her son. She is always kind and compassionate and will go to great lengths to help out anyone in need. Her friend was recently diagnosed with cancer and she was able to collect a generous amount of donations to cover medical and household expenses for her friend. She also initiated a sick bank donation at work for paid time off.

She is strong and leans on the Lord for strength and stands on the scripture: Philippians 4:13 ‘I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.’ She has been through countless trials and tribulations her entire life, but yet somehow, she is the one who is always there for everyone else to help.”

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