Orlando-area companies pitch in, purchase roof for elderly woman after News 6 report

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – Several Orlando-area companies came together to purchase a roof for an elderly woman who battled a roofing company that she said didn't provide the services for which she paid.

In April, News 6 reported that Lucille Kellom, 81, hired the company to replace her roof. The company was paid in 2016, but never did the job.

After our report, several Central Florida companies stepped in to get results for Kellom.

For Kellom, it had been two years in the making.

"That is beautiful," Kellom said while admiring her new roof. "I'm glad. Oh, nobody knows what a relief it is."

Kellom is no longer thinking about how water entered her home when it rained.

"I mean it was raining. It wasn't leaking," she said.

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She's no longer thinking about the company that got paid more than $11,000 from her insurance company, but never replaced the roof.

"I was so stressed out," she said. "I just didn't think anybody out there would come to my rescue."

Instead, she's now thinking about the donations from people she doesn't know and the companies who stepped up to help her after it happened.

"I thank y’all from the bottom of my heart," Kellom said. "Y'all are God sent."

After airing our initial report, showing Kellom was in need, the Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Association took action. Matt Criswell, with WeatherShield Roofing Group, helped organize the effort.

"We wanted to do it because of all of the bad publicity roofers get in the state of Florida," Criswell said.

Gold Key Roofing installed the roof. The owner, Jeffrey Hewitt, said the company prides itself on being charitable.

"We can't deny the elderly are preyed upon," he said.  

Trevor Switzer is the company's general manager. He said he tried to put his family in Kellom's shoes.

"We wouldn't want our family to be taken advantage of, and we think Central Florida is our family," Switzer said. "So we always try and help everybody out as much as we can."

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Several companies worked together to make it happen: Atlas Roofing provided the shingles; Beacon Roofing Supply delivered the metal; and Kennedy Skylights provided an attic fan to make the roof last longer and keep the power bills lower, according to Rob Mills, a company representative.

"We wanted to at least do something to help her out and show her (that) there are good people in this world," Mills said.

Kellom is not thinking about what it took to get here. She's thinking about the new roof that's all hers, thanks to the generosity of others.   

"News 6 got results for me. Oh, I was so happy. I made it," she said with a smile while singing the lyrics to the gospel song by the same name.

Kellom said she hadn't smiled in a long time. Now she said she has a joyous heart and plans to enjoy her new roof for years to come.