Marco Island organization assisting with home repairs ahead of storm season

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WINK News

The Marco Island Patriots are an organization trying to keep Collier County neighbors dry through rainy season by repairing roofs and doing other small fixes.

Since Hurricane Irma, Hilary Noyse says she hasn’t had any luck getting someone to fix her roof.

“The tiles were all off and there was some damage from the hurricane causing some water to trickle in, and I was just really concerned with all the high winds and the rain that it was just getting worse and worse,” Noyse said.

So Noyse decided to ask the Marco Patriots for their help.

Co-founder Erinmia Milchman says the group works with the Greater Marco Long Term Recovery to connect thousands of people together through Facebook who need help with issues like leaking roofs.

“We provide tarps for them free of charge and we provide the manpower from some of our connections we’ve made locally and we get the job done,” Milchman said.

Milchman says that within minutes, she can recruit a full team of local volunteers to respond.

“If their last resort is to enlist our service, then we’re waking up in the middle of the night to do it,” said Matthew Melican, president of Marco Island Patriots.

And with the rainy weekend ahead, neighbors like Noyes can rest easy knowing they have a team at their backs.

“It made me nervous knowing it keeps getting wetter and wetter, so that’s what’s so wonderful about the community is that they all gather together and the fact that the Marco Patriots do exactly that, they take care of us,” Noyes said.

The organization services homes all across Collier County, and says if you are in need of help, call 211. It’s a free and confidential service and will connect you to the Marco Patriots.

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