WARM MINERAL SPRINGS — As floodwaters rushed into Ken and Katy Barber’s home, they slowly lost all of the possessions they thought they’d stored high enough to escape Hurricane Helene’s impacts.
“We had to start all over again, we lost everything,” Katy Barber said.
Barber is AMVETS Post 2000 judge advocate.
“We can’t live in our home,” she said. “We are staying with a friend, Joanne Kelderman. She’s wonderful.”
Katy said the Manatee County home was built decades ago. The insurance premium recently ballooned to nearly $20,000 and wasn’t affordable.
Understanding the couple couldn’t replace all of their appliances and still fix their home, Greg Gage, Sons of AMVETS commander, reached out to the North Port Home Depot for a potential solution.
The Home Depot Foundation helped make improvements to the post in the past. Gage believed they could help again.
“The Home Depot Foundation went above and beyond to help Katy and Ken and we are so grateful,” Gage said. “This couple have both held or hold national positions for AMVETS and Sons Of AMVETS. They have always been there to support us. Now they genuinely need the help.”