REPOSTING: Tradesmen lend their helping hands
By Joe Ungaro on August 13, 2023. Tradesmen lend their helping hands
Julie Erickson on the front steps of her house surounded by Travis Toth, an electrician from Toth Electric, Sean Dowling, a plumber with AAA Able Plumbing, Ron Steele from Service Master Restore of Union County and Sandi Goodman and Tohon Jasdanwala from Homowners Hub.
MAPLEWOOD — Life became a lot harder for Julie Erickson after she was diagnosed with cancer.
A self-employed career coach, chemotherapy sapped her strength and left her capable of only working about a quarter of the time she used to and also in need of help with formerly simple tasks she couldn’t perform anymore.
“I started posting (on Facebook) about my journey and how people were helping me by doing errands, things like cleaning the litter box and emptying and loading the dishwasher and picking up prescriptions,” Erickson said. “Life tasks that I couldn’t do because of chemo.”
An old friend, Sandi Goodman, who Erickson had initially met because Erickson’s nephew went to preschool with Goodman’s daughter, saw those posts. Erickson’s nephew had died of cancer at the age of six. “That really affected their family and mine as well of course,” Erickson said.
Goodman is the co-founder of Homeowner Hub, which charges a monthly subscription fee to handle home maintenance issues for homeowners. “People pay $12.95 a month,” Goodman said. “We will source the tradesperson. We will dispatch them for whatever the homeowner needs and make sure it gets done to their satisfaction and then the homeowner pays us and we pay the tradesman.”
Goodman had been looking for a way to give back and she knew plenty of good tradespeople she thought might be interested in helping a person in need so she reached out to Erickson.
It turned out, Erickson’s home needed some work so Goodman arranged for some people to take a look.
Travis Toth, an electrician from Toth Electric, Sean Dowling, a plumber with AAA Able Plumbing and Ron Steele from Service Master Restore of Union County, all agreed to provide their expertise pro-bono.
“She needed an electrician, a plumber and a general contractor to look at some general structural issues,” Goodman said. “They put together some items they could do pro bono.”
“The trades people are doing it for free. We are doing it for free. At the end of the day, she will be in better shape,” Goodman said. There was a problem with light in the basement, which created a tripping hazard, there was a bathroom faucet that had a leak, some cracks in the plaster walls.
“These are things that she was not able to take care of on her own at the moment,” Goodman said. “Her energy level was reduced due to the rounds of chemo so we decided we would address those issues.”
Erickson has just finished five months of chemotherapy and she gets a few weeks off before she begins radiation treatment.
“Chemo was way harder than I ever anticipated,” Erickson said. “Now that I’ve had a week without it, I’m still detoxing and the energy is not back yet. But they say it will come back. Be patient and continue on this adventure.”
A potentially dangerous situation was found and fixed.
“There was a lot of corrosion on the lines leading through the dryer and washing machine,” Erickson said. “They also installed an exhaust fan in my bathroom to prevent mold, which was starting. It was something I could not afford to do.”
“It’s amazing,” she said. “What did I do to deserve this?”
Goodman said this will not be a one and done thing for her company and the tradespeople. They want to help people who are truly struggling in the moment with a health issue or serious financial issues and are unable to take care of their homes and find themselves in a precarious position.
“We want people to feel safe in their home,” Goodman said. “If they can’t do it themselves, we would like to help them accomplish that.”
Cancer, Maplewood, South Orange
Tradesmen lend their helping hands added by Joe Ungaro on August 13, 2023
If you would like to donate to Julie's Go Fund Me: https://gofund.me/8cdc046b
If you would to contact Hub Your Home:
website: www.hubyourhome.com
email: hubyourhome@gmail.com
or by phone: 973-319-4940
Above article written By Joe Ungaro on August 13, 2023
Mark Slade Keller Williams 917.797.5059 Good Homes Selling a Maplewood/South Orange/West Orange area
home involves many steps and having an experienced Maplewood New Jersey Real
Estate Agent and Realtor®, specializing in the Bedroom Communities of New York
City in Essex/Union County— Millburn, Short Hills, Montclair, West Orange,
South Orange, Livingston, Maplewood, Springfield, Summit, Madison, Chatham,
Scotch Plains, Fanwood, Cranford and Westfield--by your side will make the
transaction run a lot smoother. I would love to be your Maplewood/South Orange
New Jersey Area Real Estate Professional! I assist both buyers and sellers in
the Bedroom Communities of New York City, mostly served by NJ Transit’s
Mid-Town Direct Train Lines, offering commutes of 45minute or less to NY Penn
Station, with either the purchase and or sale of residential real estate.
As an Accredited Buyer’s Agent
(ABR), I have received special training to
guide and educate you through the entire home buying process. From start to
finish, I listen to your needs and desires in what you would like and take the
information you give me to find you home. My GO-TO team can provide you the
best in Real Estate advice with regard to attorney choices, Home Inspectors and
Mortgage Loan Officers
I am also a Luxury specialist
(CLHMS), I have received special training to
guide and educate you through the entire home buying and selling process. Not
only does this extra training help me better understand this upper echelon in
real estate, its benefit include a special luxury website: www.njluxhomes.com and a corresponding worldwide luxury network that helps to
put luxury buyers and sellers together.
As your Maplewood/South Orange/
West Orange New Jersey listing agent I am well versed on as your local
expert in all things in the West Orange, Maplewood and South Orange area Real
Estate Market. You can expect personalized service that includes a detailed
consultation on how to best position your Mid-Town Direct home to be
competitive in today’s market with training to provide my clients with an
in-depth Advanced Comparative Market analysis, and advice on staging. As my
office’s technology officer as well as both a Zillow Platinum Premier and
Trulia Premier agent, I use the latest and most up-to-date marketing methods to
get your home in front of as many buyers as possible. Being your New Jersey
Real Estate Agent and Realtor ® not only involves just finding the home or
selling the home, but being your guide, negotiator, advisor and advocate and
making sure that your needs and goals are met. Being your New Jersey Essex/Union
County area Realtor® (with a little bit of Morris County thrown in for good
measure) is one of my truest passions, and “Helping You Find Your Dream Home”
is my number one priority. Don’t forget These Helpful Sites:
www.bedroomcommunitiesofnyc.com
www.njluxhomes.com
www.goodhomesforgoodpeople.com
www.unioncountyproperties.com
www.lovetoliveinmaplewood.com
Let's
work together to find you find your Dream Home!
A picturesque town in Essex County, Maplewood is located on the
East Branch of the Rahway River. Originally consisting of farms, mills and
orchards, Maplewood is now a great mix of residential and commercial areas,
culminating in the jewel of a downtown village and coming together to create a
charming, tight-knit and diversified community. Maplewood has predominantly
Colonial and Tudor style homes with sprawling porches and ample greenery, but
you can also find some Victorians and a range of more modern style construction
on its beautiful tree lined streets. Maplewood is a diverse town with 6
elementary schools and prominent municipal building designed by famous
architects, Guilbert and Betelle. In the center of town, famed landscape
architects, the Olmstead Brothers, created the breathtaking Memorial Park; not
to be overlooked is Ricalton Square, nestled between the train station and the
downtown shopping; this area is frequently used for events including a
Halloween Parade with hayrides and petting zoos, as well as featuring replica homes
during the Winter Holiday Season. The town offers many activities to its
residents from camps in the summer, arts and crafts classes, a public pool
(with 4 pools ranging from a “baby” pool to toddler pool to large lap pool and
a diving tank) and a farmers market when in season. There is even an annual
musicalpalooza--Maplewoodstock—featuring a variety of bands and musical styles,
showcasing local and national bands with booths for local businesses to set up.
The Village, also known as Maplewood Center, is a quaint, downtown shopping
district with everything from restaurants with foods from all over the world,
bakeries, dance studios, gyms, bookstores, a movie theater and bookstores. With
its large variety of cuisines to choose from, Maplewood recently started a
yearly town-wide Restaurant Week with over 30 eateries participating. Easily
accessible by its throughways and the New Jersey Transit, it's no surprise
Maplewood has been ranked several times as one of the most desirable places to
live in America by a number of surveys. Let's work together to find you your
Dream Home!
HOME.COMMUNITY.GIVING.GRATITUDE
