ROCKPORT, Texas — David Motta and Renee O’Donnell live in Rockport and operate Port A Handyman. Following last week’s storms in Rockport, they decided to help out their neighbors, offering to make repairs or help with cleanup at homes that were affected by the rain and flooding.
“It’s just to help out and to pay it forward. When we first moved onto our property, we had a lot of people helping us, and it was right after Harvey. So, now it’s just time to pay it forward and help others and not expect anything in return,” O’Donnell said.
They received a few responses, but were surprised that some people were hesitant to reach out, for fear it was a scam.
“The word is that after Harvey, there were so many scams that people were afraid to let people into their homes,” Motta said.
But they did get in touch with a few people who needed their help, like two single mothers who have had problems with their leaky roof, and a disabled veteran whose gate has been an issue since Hurricane Harvey.
“After Harvey, we had to get the fence kind of pieced back together again, and it just never got really set right, every few months we are just having to redo something on the gate to keep it to where we can open it,” said John Kroll, whose gate Motta and O’Donnell are repairing.
Kroll said he was going to attempt to repair the gate again, but gladly accepted Motta and O’Donnell’s help when they offered.
“I haven’t been able to fix this thing, so I figured another set of eyes on it probably would do me good. I really, really appreciate everything they’re going to help us with,” he said.
However, they said the pleasure is all theirs.
“We’re actually honored to help out people like Mr. Kroll,” Motta said.
