NEW LONDON — After severe flooding forced many New London residents out of their homes, L.A.D.S, a local restoration company, is volunteering its time to help restore a severely damaged home.
At a riverside house on Shaw Road in New London, belongings are scattered across the yard. It's proof of the destruction caused by April's flooding.
"The personal stuff is what makes it sad," Chris Polanco, co owner of the Western Division of L.A.D.S, said. "The stuff people have been holding on to for generations and generations that was underwater that they just can’t keep.”
Danielle and Chris Polanco see this destruction nearly every day.
“When disaster strikes, for any community, it’s hard for everybody," Chris said.
They're the owners of L.A.D.S- Life After Disaster Strikes- Western Division.
“We’re a faith-based company, family owned, small business," Danielle said.
Residents of New London themselves, they decided to step up to help after seeing many people displaced from the floods.
“It is our hometown, and we felt, you know, we have to do something for our home town," Chris said.
Watch a bit of the restoration here:
Using their Facebook page, they asked people to nominate families who've been impacted the worst by the floods. They chose one homeowner to offer a free restoration.
The house is right on the Wolf River and had at least a foot of standing water. It's home to a disabled man and his elderly mother.
“There’s no electricity, there’s no gas here, so there’s a lot that needs to be done," Danielle says.
The house needs to be completely gutted - from the carpet to the wall paneling.
Danielle said mold grows fast, and without being able to dry everything properly, many homes will be covered with it.
“Getting water into your home, any type of water, it can be a really detrimental thing, and these people, like I said, they’ve been evacuated, so they haven’t even been able to come back to their houses," she said.
The Polancos say this type of restoration typically costs tens-of-thousands-of-dollars, especially for those who do not have insurance.
“We’re never going to be millionaires, and we’re okay with that," Danielle said. "Our business has become more of our ministry because we get to share with people what we do every day, we get to give back.”
Chris says its not just them who've decided to help out- the New London community has been coming together since the first raindrops.
“There’s so many people helping one another, so kudos to all of New London, not just us," he said. "This job isn’t just tearing stuff apart, throwing stuff away, cleaning up mold, cleaning up water cleaning up fire, it’s more than that. These people, it’s their lives.”
