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Christmas comes early for North Fort Myers family

Lee BIA Builders Care provides family with total home renovation

By CHUCK BALLARO - | Dec 20, 2024

Erica Tague and family react to the unveiling of the renovation of her home Wednesday. Builders Care and Lennar Homes did a complete renovation, everything from new electrical, plumbing and AC to wallpaper and wall art. CHUCK BALLARO

When Erica Tague saw the work done on her North Fort Myers home, tears streamed from her eyes, her face full of gratitude.

Tague and her family had just received the best Christmas gift neither asked for nor expected: Their house on Lincoln Avenue in North Fort Myers had been transformed from a state of disrepair to what was, for all intents and purposes, a new home.

This came courtesy of Lee County BIA Builders Care and Lennar Homes which helps families in need do repairs on their homes or, in this case, massive renovations.

On Wednesday, with friends, family and others in attendance, the improvements were revealed, including before and after pictures and video of the home.

Builders Care and Lennar provided the renovations at no cost to the family, with the grand reveal taking place just in time for the holidays.

Erica Tague and her youngest son react to the wholly redone interior of their North Fort Myers home Wednesday. The complete renovation, down to a Christmas tree and presents, was made possible by Lee BIA Builders Care businesses and volunteers and Lennar Homes. PROVIDED

To think that in the beginning all they requested was a new air conditioner.

Tague has a lot more to worry about than having to fix up her home.

Tague works with the elderly while her oldest daughter works with Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

She also is a single mother, raising three children. Two of them have been diagnosed with autism, with her 15-year-old son also diagnosed with epilepsy, scoliosis, and eosinophilic esophagitis.

Tague and her family bought their home 10 years ago. Whenever something went wrong with the house, they would usually fix it themselves.

Erica Tague's home in North Fort Myers was wholly redone. The complete renovation, down to a Christmas tree and presents, was made possible by Lee BIA Builders Care businesses and volunteers and Lennar Homes. PROVIDED

Unfortunately, as with older homes, more and more things went wrong. They got a new roof after Hurricane Ian, but the inside was falling into a further state of disrepair.

“We fixed things up a little at a time, but the hurricanes keep coming. There was just never enough time or money to do it,” Tague said.

The air conditioner was broken, the electrical work was also failing, and the garage, which was to become another bedroom, was unfinished, and Tague just didn’t have the money to get it all fixed.

Finally, with nowhere else to turn, Tague reached out to Builders Care, only seeking assistance with her failing AC system.

“I was on the Lee County website with a list of resources. I called and filled out the application, asking of anyone who could help. They came out and talked to me,” Tague said.

Builders Care is a non-profit arm of the Lee Building Industry Association which does emergency construction service for the elderly, disabled and the economically disadvantaged.

Annette Milles, president of Builders Care, said she heard from Tague this summer after their AC had gone out.

When Builders Care showed up and examined the home, they found the home needed much more than new air conditioning. They needed an extreme makeover.

“When we were invited inside we knew they needed more. Their kitchen was falling apart, they had lighting that wasn’t working, a bathroom that was unusable,” Milles said.

Ray Kershaw, of Lennar Homes, said it was obvious the family needed help.

“She’s a single mom with three kids, struggling to pay her bills and put food on the table and the home was neglected from the repairs that needed to be done,” Kershaw said.

With this in mind, Lee BIA Builders Care and Lennar partnered to provide the holiday miracle of a lifetime: a home renovation for this North Fort Myers family in need.

The family was moved to the nearby Best Western hotel temporarily while the Builders Care team went to work to completely transform the home.

“On day one, we demoed the whole house down to the studs. When we saw the wiring, plumbing and the AC, we took it all out and put in all new,” Kershaw said.

The entire project took two weeks. Kershaw said the project would have been done sooner, but the new windows hadn’t arrived yet, which delayed the project.

They didn’t just fix the plumbing and put up drywall, they made the house into a home, adding the touches needed to compete the transformation.

They wallpapered the bedrooms, put up pictures on the walls, added that fourth bedroom that wasn’t completed and made it the master bedroom, put in new cabinetry and furniture and, of course, the new kitchen.

Each bedroom had a new TV and there were presents under their new Christmas tree. The kitchen cabinets were fully stocked with the dry necessities so Erica could do her holiday baking.

Kershaw said if the family had to pay for the repairs themselves, it would have cost around $80,000 or more.

“We had all our associates involved as well as dozens of trade partners who donated materials at no cost to the homeowner,” Kershaw said. “We want to give back to the community and Builders Care.”

There were still inside the house putting on the finishing touches at 1 a.m. Just two hours before the family arrived, there were people putting the topcoat on the floors.

After two weeks at the hotel, Tague and her family returned home to a crowd of friends, County Commissioner Brian Hamman and others who aided in the renovation.

“When I saw all the cars, I was grateful, but there were also an awful lot of people here. I had no idea what was going on,” Tague said.

Kershaw told Tague getting the cabinets took some time so they “did a few little things” and that she might be surprised.

When the house was unveiled, the shock was obvious. She was speechless, even breathless at what she saw. And that was just on the outside.

Once inside, she was even more surprised at what was, essentially, an entirely new home. Gone were the days where something would break and they would have to pay to fix something.

The kids had their own rooms, each of which had their own personal touches to them. Of course, now she had her own room and didn’t have to sleep on the couch as she had after her son had surgery.

“They kids have their rooms that are all very different. It’s nice to see they have the things they like,” Tague said. “It’s great they learned so much about my family and how they decorated their rooms. It was perfect for each one of them.”

The bathroom was specially designed for her older son, who has some difficulty walking and navigating the house. He can now get into the shower with little trouble and become more independent. The doors were also redone to accommodate that.

Even outside, there was a wet bar near the pool, a new grill and a fire pit so the family can hang out in the yard, which was resodded.

The thing she said she liked the best was the new kitchen. It is usually the most important room in the house.

“I love to bake and I was super excited to have the kitchen. It’s where I spend most of my time,” Tague said.

There were even the smallest of touches.

Over the front door was something that read, “Love you, Bye,” which she tells her kids every day as they go off to school.

“I’m thankful for the big things, but the little things like that mean a lot,” Tague said. “These things make our lives so much easier. Two boys with special needs, Sometimes, my older son’s legs don’t straighten out and it’s very difficult to navigate the home.”

Other local partner suppliers and contractors making the revovation possible include 84 Lumber; Accurate Grading; All American Shutters; American Woodmark Cabinets; Caloosa Cooling; Carrigan Brothers Plumbing; Clive Daniels Furniture; Coastal Waste and Recycling; DLS Frame Drywall and Stucco; Empire Electric; Fort Myers Sod; GE Appliances; GMZ Masonry; Gulf Coast Grading; HBJ Construction; Holiday Pools; Hometeam Pest Defense; HONC; John to Go; Juniper Landscaping; Lee County; Liberty Aluminum; MI Windows; Moen; Naples Hardscapes; Nash Moving; Niles Design Group; Nova Engineering; Pack Rat; PMC Painting; Raymond Building Supply; Rice Insulation and Glass; Sherwin Williams; Signs In One Day Cape Coral; Star Farms; Timberlake Cabinets; USA Grading; and Wayne Wiles Floor Covering.