Neighbors help Punta Gorda man with disability restore house

Neighbors came together to dedicate their time to help a man with a disability. The homeowner says their kindness means the world to him.

Howard Brewer, 58, lives on Mango Drive in Punta Gorda. He is living in a home in disrepair and not from lack of effort to restore it. It’s because he lost his left leg while he was working toward making the needed repairs.

“If someone comes over, we sit outside because who’s going to want to come in here?” Brewer said. “There’s no place to sit. There’s no place.”

The ceiling in Brewer’s house is moldy, the plywood floor torn up, and light fixtures are falling apart. Brewer said he moved into the house back in 2010 and has attempted to fix these problems ever since.

But in the process of fixing his bathroom, Brewer lost his left leg.

“I can’t do it by myself,” Brewer said. “I can’t get out of the chair to get on the floor to work on it, and I’m not tall enough to reach the ceilings.”

So his neighbors have stepped up to the plate and started helping.

“He would give you the shirt off his back,” Billy Gray said. “That’s just the way he is, so it’s time to give back.”

“The plywood has to be replaced,” Steven Walker said. “We’ve seen it, and we know he’s riding around in that heavy chair. I mean I’m concerned that he’ll fall through.”

They’re not stopping there.

“I’ve spoken with Home Depot, homeless coalition, good will habitat for humanity, Salvation Army, just trying to find place where I can set up a drop off location, just to get the materials we need,” Kelly Kartz said.

This is being done for a 58-year-old man, who neighbors say deserves better.

“The fact that these people are doing this out of the kindness of their hearts, they’re not looking to get anything out of it,” Brewer said. “I can’t thank them enough.”