SAN ANTONIO — An 80-year-old disabled veteran forced to evacuate his home due to a gas leak and a collapsed foundation is back in his home this week.
Contractors, city workers and health professionals gathered outside a little old house on the northwest side Friday to welcome Thomas Neumayr and his wife Jane back home for the first time in three months.
“All the people that actually put hands on this project were here and wanted to walk them home,” said Daniel Vargas, founder of the non-profit Operation Triage.
Vargas said after one of the Neumayr’s home health care workers from Visiting Angels smelled a gas leak, the city shut off the meter and had the home evacuated.
“It's a miracle, with the gas leak, that the family wasn't injured,” Vargas said.
Vargas coordinated with the city and local businesses to repair the home including and Allen Wrench Handyman and Renovations.
"They're in a tight spot where they can afford this,” Vargas said. “They would be homeless if we hadn’t all stepped in.”
Seth Allen owns Allen Wrench Handyman and Renovations with his father John. They were some of the first to work on the Neumayr’s house. He said they installed 50 concrete supports for a total of 140 linear feet.
“All that was under there was rotten out cedar tree trunks and cinderblocks that had toppled over, supporting the house," Allen said.
Allen said his own father is a disabled veteran, so doing work like this feels personal.
“Seeing him struggle with his issues, with his health and being disabled and whatnot, it really hits close to home,” he said.
Jon Wayne Service Company and Murray Service Company also worked on the home, but they could not begin work until those supports were inspected and approved by the city. Allen said the nearly-century-old house was built without a proper foundation,
“A lot of times people built their own houses. There was no building development services center. There was no neighborhood in housing development that you could go visit downtown to ask what the building codes are,” he said. “It was just, ‘Hey, this thing needs built. Well, let's see if this stays up.”
He said the supports they did have deteriorated over many years.
On a fixed income, Thomas said home repair was not in the budget.
"Sometimes groceries were the last thing on the list,” Thomas Neumayr said. “We might go a week or so with $30 - $35 in the in the bank. That's it."
"Before we’d get an estimate, and we couldn't even touch them,” Jane Neumayr said. “We're just so grateful that we got help,"
Vargas said the work would have cost the Neumayr’s almost $80,000.
“There's no way they could afford to get this done,” Vargas, said.
Vargas said he sees the Neumayr’s return as a small piece of a much larger mission.
"This is Military City USA. We have tons of veterans, disabled veterans and elderly veterans that need our help and support,” Vargas said. “We all need to step up and take care of them."