Phoenix woman receives Easter surprise; Crew fixes her roof, installs AC for free

Phoenix woman receives Easter surprise; Crew fixes her roof, installs AC for free
Michael Schennum/The Arizona Republic

David Galvan of Crout and Heller Painting Services spray-paints the exterior of Rose Bueno's home in south Phoenix. Bueno wrote a letter to a construction company, which chose to repair and improve her home.




Rose Bueno was awakened by several workers at her south Phoenix house Wednesday morning.

They had come to repair her crumbling roof. The two dozen workers with Zzone Construction also brought her a new air-conditioner and promised to paint the outside of the house when they finished.

All of it was free.

It was the Easter gift Bueno had been hoping for.

"I had to just keep praying to the Lord," said Bueno, 54, who lives at the foot of South Mountain near Seventh Street.

The timing of Zzone Construction's charitable repairs couldn't have been better. Bueno had gotten grief from her neighbors for her shabby roof.

Every time the wind blew, Bueno would see a few shingles tear away and fall into her yard, or, more annoyingly, fly into the street or a neighbor's yard.

But financing such a project is difficult in hard times. Unemployed, Bueno has kept a tight budget, surviving on disability payments and living in the house her father left her.

She had hoped to find a roofer to do the job cheaply and professionally, but everyone she asked could offer her no warranty and their estimates ranged from $15,000 to $20,000.

"The boards of the roof were so warped," Bueno said. "Wood was just crumbling away. There was a leak in the master bathroom."

To make matters worse, her air-conditioner was broken.

Bueno's troubles have been heartbreaking and marked by loss. In 1994, one of her three sons died in a shooting. Almost a decade later, her husband died of a brain aneurism at 44.

Within the next two years, her father died, and then her mother-in-law, her last connection to her husband, also died.

Eight months ago, with support from the community organization Chicanos Por La Causa, Bueno decided to reach for help.

Bueno sent a letter to Zzone Construction, a family-owned construction company in Scottsdale that is known to select a few homeowners for pro bono house repairs or other contract work.

Tony Ardizzone owns the business, which he said works on about a half-dozen charitable projects over the year in between its money-making projects.

Bueno's letter inspired him, and so did the idea of "just giving back," Ardizzone said.

"Rose had one of the most touching stories," he said as about half of his crew maneuvered the new air-conditioner into place with help from a crane.

Ardizzone said he planned to finish the roof replacement, air-conditioning installation and exterior painting in time for Easter Sunday.

Bueno said that until Wednesday, she had thought she was going to be celebrating Easter Sunday somewhere outside her home.

But with the roof replacement and a new air-conditioner, she has a cool space where her three children and their grandchildren can stay comfortably.

"I can hold Easter at my house," Bueno said.