When your buddy asks if you would bid out a reroof for a city’s Chief of Police, it’s not a bad relationship to develop, whether you’re a resident or not.
That is how Ruben Gonzalez, principal of Ais Construction, based in the Detroit suburb of Hazel Park, became involved in something more significant than a one-off repair — not for him - but for the potential customer’s neighbor.
Gonzalez, whose company provides steep- and low-slope contracting services, fielded his friend's request to provide an estimate for Jamiel Altaheri, chief of police for the bedroom community of Hamtramck, Mich., which is nestled inside the city of Detroit, about 10 minutes from downtown.
After Gonzalez provided the bid, Altaheri asked if he would give an estimate for Altaheri’s neighbor, a longtime Hamtramck resident whose roof was in such disrepair that, as Gonzalez described it, the most appropriate word summing it up could be ‘dilapidated.’
“There were legitimate holes in the roof,” Gonzalez said by phone while working on a projectat a school in the Detroit area.
Altaheri said he would cover the cost of repairing his neighbor’s roof, knowing his longtime neighbor lacked the means. After hearing that, Gonzalez didn't hesitate, telling the city’s top cop that his company would handle everything.
The best part: Altaheri’s neighbor, Norbert Revels, would have no clue.
"We don't realize that there's a lot of people who need help; we all need it," Altaheri told WWJ-TV, which broke this story in Detroit yesterday. "One day I just happened to go inside his home and I realized his situation."
Gonzalez knocked on the neighbor’s door under the guise of 'the roofing contractor' preparing to work on Chief Altaheri’s home and wondered if Revels would be interested in receiving a bid for repairs, too.
Revels told WWJ he had tried to save the money needed for repairs over the years, but that was easier said than done; instead, he learned to live with it.
"Terrible leakage: the first room was leaking, the second room was leaking; I looked into it, and the cheapest I could find for me because I wasn't working was like, let's say, $10,000,” Revels said. “I started saving, saving, but I could just not ever get to that point."
Not wanting to waste Gonzalez’s time, he asked if he could get a price to tarp the roof over rather than a bid for repairs. Gonzalez, wanting to lock in the surprise, asked if the man had the money to pay for a tarp — Revels said he did — and the scheme was set in motion.
“I told him we would be back in a few days,” Gonzalez said. “I walked through and saw just how badly this roof had [deteriorated], with buckets to catch water dripping from ceilings, being channeled by plastic; the ceiling was covered in black mold; it was pretty bad.”
Sure enough, a few days later, Gonzalez showed up as promised — with a full crew and a dumpster — and, in place of a tarp, delivered Revels a complete tear-off and new roof, including replacing the decking where needed.
"Shock, happy and confused at the same time,” Revels said of the generosity. “I didn't know how to react; I was just smiling and just looking at these young guys working so hard [and] it was awesome.”
Gonzalez operates under the radar, not seeking recognition but simply doing what is right because it's the right thing to do: community, compassion, and grace.
"I believe in giving back if you're able to so please, help your neighbors, help the community," Gonzalez said.
