New Roof on Women’s Shelter Being Called ‘Miracle on 22nd Street’

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Aug. 27, 2013 - PRLog -- When it rains, it pours; buckets full, in fact.

But a leaky roof that’s been plaguing a Kansas City women’s group home will soon see sunnier days, thanks to the generosity of Christian Brothers Roofing (http://www.christianbrothersroofingllc.com/), a Kansas City roofing company, and Roofing Supply Group (RSG) (http://rsgroof.com/), a national roofing supplier. And, as odd as it might sound, the national consumer review service Angie’s List brought everyone together.

The Princess House (http://www.saritalynneministries.com/), a safe haven for abused women and those who are striving to turn their lives around, desperately needed a new 8000 square foot roof on its facility near 22^nd and Benton. But with quotes to replace the roof coming in as high as $60,000, Princess House’ founder and director, Dr. Sarita Lynn Graham, knew it would take a miracle.

And, miracles in this economically challenged northeastern part of the city involving that kind of money are hard to find. But now, she says, that’s exactly what has happened.

It started when a volunteer, on a lark, called Angie’s List and was introduced to the Angie’s List Wishmakers program that pairs highly-rated service companies with those in need.  Depending on the request, there may be just one service provider involved, or a group of companies working together. The company immediately sent a notice to all its roofing company members in Kansas City laying out the challenge.

Christian Brothers Roofing, a highly-rated roofing company on Angie’s List, answered the call and has spearheaded the local effort to raise the roof on the Princess House.

“Christian Brothers Roofing is a faith-based organization with a history of setting aside a percentage of profits to contribute to charities and projects in our community,” says owner D. Scott Horstmann.  “But I have to say, when I first saw the scope of this job and just how bad the roof was, I had to do some praying myself to figure out how to make this one work.”

Horstmann wasn’t the only one praying. The women and the staff at the faith-based Princess House had a prayer team going almost 24-7. They fully understood what an undertaking they were asking of a company, even one as generous as Christian Brothers Roofing.

“We were praying that Scott would get the help he needed with the materials, because his team would be providing the labor. We were ‘only’ missing about $18,000in roofing supplies to make the job possible,” Graham says.

The missing Good Samaritan piece of the puzzle turned out to be RSG of Kansas City.  A supplier longed used by Horstmann, it just so happened that the company had recently finished an enormous job, but had a large supply of materials left over—and top-quality materials at that, says Horstmann.

“We’re just glad all the pieces fell together and that we could help the Princess House in its endeavor to help our community,” says Michael Lyle, managing partner of RSG.

That’s a sentiment voiced by Angie’s List founder, Angie Hicks of Indianapolis.  “Through our Wishmakers program we typically help one family at a time, but this project will benefit dozens of women in need for years to come,” says Hicks.

Graham and her board are overjoyed.  “Scott was almost apologetic that I wouldn’t be able to pick the color of the shingles, and I started laughing, because we are so grateful to him and RSG that I don’t care if the roof shingles came in pink—in fact, pink would be great!” Graham says.

“How all this came together—from the appeal made on Angie’s List to two good-hearted Kansas City companies answering the call for help—well, it’s nothing short of miraculous—a miracle on 22^nd Street,” Graham adds.

Work begins Tuesday, September 3, tearing out the old roof and replacing it with a new one.

Christian Brothers Roofing (http://www.christianbrothersroofingllc.com/) is a faith-based roofing company serving the Kansas City metro area and is owned by D. Scott Horstmann.  Services include roofing, guttering, siding and window and door replacements.  The team consists of the area’s top roofing contractors with over 53 years of experience combined in all areas of residential roofing and guttering in the Kansas City area. Christian Brothers Roofing LLC is one of Kansas City’s fully licensed and insured roofing companies.

Roofing Supply Group (RSG) (http://rsgroof.com/) of Kansas City is owned by parent company Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC, Roofing Supply Group, LLC (“RSG”) and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.  It is one of the largest wholesale distributors of roofing supplies and related materials in the United States.  Through its network of 65 locations in 24 states nationwide, RSG provides one-step distribution services from roofing product manufacturers to roofing contractors and homebuilders.  Each branch carries a complete line of roofing products for residential and commercial roofing, including composition asphalt shingles, underlayment and associated ancillary products.

Founded in 2005, Dr. Sarita Lynne Graham (http://www.saritalynneministries.com/) wanted the Princess House (http://www.saritalynneministries.com/) to be more than an emergency shelter for homeless women.  In honor of her deceased daughter,Sarita Laurece Givens (“Princess”), the Sarita Lynne Ministries established a home-like, faith-based environment in which women can learn how to maintain an independent life-style.  Originally housed in a rented home on Olive Street, the first Princess House accommodated 12 women.  The new Princess House (also referred to as the Princess-Phillis Wheatley House)  at 2214 Benton Blvd., opened Feb. 28, 2010 and can house up to 21 women.  Since then, the organization has established two transitional living houses in Kansas City for men, Isaiah's Place and Joshua's Safe Haven.

Angie's List (http://www.angieslist.com/) helps consumers have happy transactions with local service professionals in more than 720 categories of service, ranging from home improvement to health care. More than 2 million subscribers across the U.S. share their consumer experiences and use Angie's List to gain unlimited access to local ratings, exclusive discounts, the Angie's List magazine, the Angie's List complaint resolution service and information about how to make the most of their home improvement projects.