The Stories of our Community

Dear Roofing by Curry and To Whom it May Concern,

My name is Anastasia. I am the daughter of Sue Berger. My teenage daughter and I came to live here with my mother a few months ago. Since I’ve been living here, I have been trying to help my Mom as much as I can to work on the property and the house and to be the initiator of projects that desperately need to be done, which include replacing the deteriorating roof.

Having no clue what a new roof would cost her, or what condition the roof was in, I started searching for quotes from roofing companies. The initial company that came out and assessed the roof gave me a rough idea of what the project might cost, which was devastating news because with our financial situation, we have no idea how we can possibly pay for it. The company also bowed out of the job saying that the roof was in such bad shape that they wouldn’t take it on, and suggested we call Roofing by Curry to see if it was a job that they could handle. And so, not even knowing how we would pay for it, I called.

Today a roofing consultant that works for you, Tom Avirett, came by to look at my Mother’s roof. As he looked around, I could see the dismal look on his face, and I could tell that he was taken aback at the extremely poor condition of the roof, and my heart sank. After he assessed everything, and heard of our financial situation, he pulled me aside and told me about the free roof project that your company offers, suggesting that we write to you and explain our situation. I understand that the nomination for this project is already in motion, and I just want to thank you in advance for letting us enter into the pool of people being considered for a new roof.

My mother will be 75 years old in March. She has lived here since 1989. When we moved in, we were a family of nine, and the house was just one room, a living room / kitchen, with a bathroom under 300 square feet (a converted three cow barn). It was too small, but it was all we could afford. There were a few sheds and we converted them into bedrooms and put up tents while my parents gathered the resources to build something adequate. With the help of gracious friends, we built what is here now. Unfortunately, for the last 20 years or so, the upkeep of the house has been neglected due to lack of funds, and my siblings all live far away with families of their own to care for.


My Father is gone now, and my Mother is a saint. She is one of the most loving, humble, and nonjudgmental people I have ever known. Ignoring her own needs, she has, for almost forty years, lived a selfless life serving the community voluntarily, for no pay. And not just helping anyone, in 1983 (39 years ago) she started teaching a weekly bible study group to women in jail in both Sarasota and Manatee County, and continues today. For 7 years she served as a volunteer chaplain for the women of Manatee county jail. She has guided, and selflessly stood by countless women, helping them navigate and work their way out of the judicial system, represented them in court, and eventually (after me and my siblings got older and left her with an empty nest), she opened up our home as a discipleship recovery house and invited individual women who were coming out of jail, seeking a new life of recovery, to live in this home. For 18 years she counseled and taught these women, under this roof, how to get back onto their feet and into the real world again, how to get jobs, how to rebuild trusting relationships with their beloved children and loved ones, and how to live a life full of meaning­–and for some, for the first time ever.

My mother has positively influenced and helped so many people that it brings me to tears just to think about and recall the countless women who struggled with issues of addiction (among many other issues) who had lost their quality of life, lost their children and their families, who had no hope, and who were among the lowest-of-life with no one to love them or support them, that are now leading successful lives as professionals, as restaurant managers, retail executives, in programs helping others in the community, and most of all being mothers, daughters, and wives of people who love them. To this day, all these women thank my mother for helping to save their lives and like myself, all the women call my Mother, “Mother,” too.


Currently, my Mother continues to voluntarily teach her bible study at the Sarasota County jail, and also teaches the women at the Manatee Prison Work Release Program. She makes a whopping $585 a month from the government from Social Security. She works part-time caring for two elderly people, and to make ends meet and pay her mortgage, she continues to rent out the rooms in our home.


I am a single mother with no outside help, and financially burdened. I work and go to school full time. My mother calls me the project manager, but that is all I have to offer her aside from a small rent payment and cooking dinner here and there.

I can’t even begin to tell you how overwhelmed I am at just the possibility of my mother’s roof being considered for this project because it is in such deterioration, that I don’t know if it will even withstand the next rainy season this coming summer, and we have no idea how we will pay for a new roof, especially to have it happen swiftly in this economy. Additionally, after all that my mother has done selflessly for others throughout her life, and after she has lovingly put a roof over so many people’s heads, it would mean more than anything to see others come to her rescue and help her in return.



The house needs quite a few repairs, and I am trying to find others to help, but the most important one is the roof. Without it, nothing works below. If you should choose to help her with a new roof, you will not only make her and I and all of my siblings and all the wonderful friends she has made over the years eternally grateful, but you will perpetuate the charitable contribution she is making to our community.

It is with all of my sincerity and prayers that you will come out to see the house and roof, meet me and my mother, and consider us for the free roof project.