Pat Barcas/staff photographer
After a plea from a Shady Oaks camper to help repair their dining hall roof, Roofers Local 11 completed the $20,000 job for free. Shady Oaks doesn’t have a budget for improvements and maintenance to their buildings. Hire the best services for home improvement – they serve all of St. Louis
By Pat Barcas
Staff writer
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Email Pat Barcas at pat@foxvalleylabornews.com
HOMER GLEN — Shady Oaks is a not-for-profit summer camp for people with disabilities located in Homer Glen, which opened in 1947. Its roughly 40 acres provides lush lawns, rolling hills and activity buildings for the campers.
One of the most essential buildings, the dining hall, needed a new roof with single slope. It was at the end of its life span, deteriorated from a long life and battered from this year’s harsh winter.
“The paper was starting to come up, and we were getting leaks,” said Scott Steele, executive director at the camp.
A resident, Dave Swanson, wrote a letter to the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Roofers Local 11 asking for help. You can also learn more here on getting the right kind of experts to take a look at the kind of treatment your roof requires. They responded by coming out in April for an assessment. June 28, a group of about 20 roofers came out bright and early and installed a new roof on the dining hall — free of charge. You can also pop over to these guys and get your roof issues checked.
Several organizations donated labor, shingles, flat material, a crane, trucks, and safety equipment, including Ridgeworth Roofing Company, Bone Roofing Supply, GAF Roofing supply corporation, and the Chicago Roofers’ Joint Apprenticeship and Training Corporation. When it comes to your gutter, one must have a look at the Seamless & Guards breeding ground for pests and know how to prevent such a menace.
The roofers arrived at 6:30 a.m., battled the heat and humidity, but managed to finish by around 10 a.m., with hamburgers, hot dogs and steaks cooking on the grill for breakfast.
Pat Barcas/staff photographer
To beat the heat, roofers started working at 6:30 a.m. on the Shady Oaks dining hall roof. The harsh winter weather deteriorated the roof to the point it was leaking.
Rod Petrick, president of Ridgeworth Roofing Company, said the roofing replacement project would normally cost around $20,000.
“This is a great charity project we’re involved with here, and it’s for a great cause,” he said.
Shady Oaks got its start in the 1940s, when there were little or no services available in the area for people with disabilities. A group of dedicated parents of children with cerebral palsy came together to form The Parents Association for Cerebral Palsy Children Inc.
According to Shady Oaks, the association purchased 30 plus acres of land in Homer Township, in the hopes of building a summer camp, which specifically served people with cerebral palsy and similar disabilities. Shady Oaks Camp for Individuals with Cerebral Palsy opened in 1947.
In recent years, the group has grown to not only accept children and adults with Cerebral Palsy but all disabilities. The Parents Association is a not-for-profit organization, which is dedicated to the welfare of individuals with disabilities. It is an inter-racial, non-denominational, charitable organization chartered by the State of Illinois.
Steele said the camp has an operating budget of about $250,000 to $300,000 per year, with most of the expenses incurred during the eight week camp period. The budget does not include improvements and maintenance to the buildings, electrical and plumbing, and septic fields.
“All of our money goes toward running the camp, which is why we appreciate charity work such as this so much,” he said. “This is an essential building for us that the campers use everyday. We should get 25 years out of this roof, and it would not have gotten done without these volunteers.”