Sellers and rebuilders unite to help veteran with home makeover in Lewiston

LEWISTON — A Lewiston homeowner who fell on hard times after an injury in 2019 got a big boost Tuesday morning from a group of real estate agents and local volunteers.

Members of the Maine Association of Realtors joined several board members from Rebuilding Together L/A Maine for a home makeover and team-building experience at Dennis Lemieux’s house.

The association, which has over 6,000 real estate agents from 600 firms throughout the state, has been around since the 1930s. They help promote the industry and set standards, ensure integrity and provide guidance to its members. They also are dedicated to helping improve the lives of the communities their members serve by giving back.

Volunteer Sherry Gregory of Homestead Realty in Winthrop sands kitchen cabinets Tuesday morning in preparation for painting at the home of Dennis Lemieux in Lewiston. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

In addition to a longstanding tradition of donating time and money, members are rolling up their sleeves and donating elbow grease.

On Tuesday, a dozen of them came from several surrounding communities to volunteer their time to help Lemieux. They went home dirty, tired and filled with joy and accomplishment, some with splinters, scrapes and bruises — something they will no doubt be proud of wearing.

Lemieux fell on hard times after buying his dream home on a quiet dead-end street in Lewiston. He would sit around a fire in his backyard in the summer with friends and family. During the winter he would clear off part of a small pond there to skate.

But after an injury in 2019 and trouble with scheduling surgery through the VA, it was a year before the veteran could get his shoulder repaired because COVID-19.

“I blew through my savings and I couldn’t do much of anything around the house, Lemieux said. “Everything became overgrown, projects I started were put on hold and everything started breaking down. And the bank was knocking at the door,” he said Monday while carrying items to a dumpster brought by the volunteers and placed in the driveway.

Last year, when Lemieux was starting to get back on his feet, his mother came across a story about a local group of volunteers looking for people needing their homes repaired but who could not afford it or do it themselves. She filled out an application and sent it to Rebuilding Together L/A Maine, a local volunteer group that has helped hundreds of homeowners remain safe and comfortable in their homes since 1988.

Volunteers Owen Pierce, left, and Tony Poulin, right, of Meservier & Associates in Auburn repair gutters Tuesday morning at Dennis Lemieux’s home in Lewiston. In the background volunteer Shanna Green, president of Rebuilding Together L/A Maine, mows the lawn. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

At the time it was received by President Shanna Green, it was too big a project and too close to their annual rebuild day for consideration.

“It really irked me and I just knew we had to do something,” Green said. “It tore my heart out to say no and put it off until next year,” she said.

“The MAR Foundation has been donating money to us for nearly a dozen years I think, and somehow we found out that they were looking for a project of their own,” Green said. “I couldn’t believe it and said we have just what you are looking for,” she said while checking on a crew working on fixing the gutters.

Standing in front of his home as the volunteers buzzed around the yard with a brush cutter, mowing, pounding nails to reattach gutters, sanding, painting, pulling down walls, ceilings and more, Lemieux shook his head in amazement.

“I’m working again and getting back on track,” he said. “This has given me a peace of mind, faith in people and I can’t wait to return the favor and donate some of my own time next time you have your volunteer day,” he told Rebuilding Together L/A Maine board member and project leader Jim Dowling.